Hey I can get legal pot!!

[BarriedaleNick]

Seen to much crap happen when people start taking this stuff...........leave well alone is my thought. :)

Well it can do but I have seen hundreds of people smoke and some were wasters who never did much and some ran businesses and were very successful.  Depends to a large extent on the individual but it is wrong to generalise - a lot of people - even some allotmenteers that I know :o - enjoy a nice quiet smoke at the end of the day once the work is done.   Nothing wrong with that not that I would encourage anyone to do so of course!

[BarriedaleNick]

[Mortality]

Seen to much crap happen when people start taking this stuff...........leave well alone is my thought. :)

Well it can do but I have seen hundreds of people smoke and some were wasters who never did much and some ran businesses and were very successful.  Depends to a large extent on the individual but it is wrong to generalise - a lot of people - even some allotmenteers that I know :o - enjoy a nice quiet smoke at the end of the day once the work is done.   Nothing wrong with that not that I would encourage anyone to do so of course!

I hope they didnt drive home after.

'6e.
Driving --- Experimental studies of driving conducted on test courses have shown that performance is impaired by marijuana. Judgment, concentration, and car handling skills are affected, and the influence may persist for a full day afterward. The determination of marijuana intoxication requires a blood or urine sample; this has made it difficult to study  role in driving violations and accidents. Furthermore, the detrimental effects on motor skills may persist for several hours after the subjective euphoria has passed. Comparison of several studies indicates that about 15% of road accidents involve marijuana. Soderstrom, et al., found that up to 34.7% of vehicular trauma patients they examined were under the influence of marijuana. (160)

In 1993, police in Memphis TN outfitted an ambulance as a "drug van" with a toilet, interview area, and videotaping equipment . They proceeded to make on-the-spot tests of the urine of any reckless drivers  who appeared not to be drunk. 150 drivers were sampled; 89 (59%) tested positive for marijuana or cocaine.

Marijuana was implicated in the 1987 crash of a freight train and a Metroliner, resulting in 16 dead and 48 injured persons. Cannabinoids were detected in the blood of the conductor of the freight train, which had run through 3 red signals before the crash. In 1988, a switchman whose error caused a derailment and a train crash was found to have smoked marijuana sometime before the accident.


@

[BarriedaleNick]

Not sure what your point is Mortality.
I enjoy a bottle of wine of an evening but I don't need someone to quote me that I shouldn't drive afterwards - it is self evident.

[Mortality]

Not sure what your point is Mortality.
I enjoy a bottle of wine of an evening but I don't need someone to quote me that I shouldn't drive afterwards - it is self evident.

I think you got the point,

[BarriedaleNick]

Well if we are posting random stuff from websites and pretending it means anything - I can do it too!

SUMMARIES
"At the present time, the evidence to suggest an involvement of cannabis in road crashes is scientifically unproven.
To date , seven studies using culpability analysis have been reported, involving a total of 7,934 drivers. Alcohol was detected as the only drug in 1,785 drivers, and together with cannabis in 390 drivers. Cannabis was detected in 684 drivers, and in 294 of these it was the only drug detected. The results to date of crash culpability studies have failed to demonstrate that drivers with cannabinoids in the blood are significantly more likely than drug-free drivers to be culpable in road crashes.

[In] cases in which THC was the only drug present were analyzed, the culpability ratio was found to be not significantly different from the no-drug group.

REFERENCE: G. Chesher and M. Longo. 2002. Cannabis and alcohol in motor vehicle accidents.
In: F. Grotenhermen and E. Russo (Eds.) Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Potential. New York: Haworth Press. Pp. 313-323.
"Cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving, [but] it has a negative impact on decision time and trajectory. [However,] this in itself does not mean that drivers under the influence of cannabis represent a traffic safety risk. Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving."

REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002.
Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. Ottawa.
Chapter 8: Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis.
"This report has summarized available research on cannabis and driving. Evidence of impairment from the consumption of cannabis has been reported by studies using laboratory tests, driving simulators and on-road observation. ... Both simulation and road trials generally find that driving behavior shortly after consumption of larger doses of cannabis results in (i) a more cautious driving style; (ii) increased variability in lane position (and headway); and (iii) longer decision times. Whereas these results indicate a 'change' from normal conditions, they do not necessarily reflect 'impairment' in terms of performance effectiveness since few studies report increased accident risk.

REFERENCE: UK Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (Road Safety Division). 2000.
Cannabis and Driving: A Review of the Literature and Commentary. Crowthorne, Berks: TRL Limited.
"Overall, we conclude that the weight of the evidence indicates that:
1) There is no evidence that consumption of cannabis alone increases the risk of culpability for traffic crash fatalities or injuries for which hospitalization occurs, and may reduce those risks.
2) The evidence concerning the combined effect of cannabis and alcohol on the risk of traffic fatalities and injuries, relative to the risk of alcohol alone, is unclear. 3) It is not possible to exclude the possibility that the use of cannabis (with or without alcohol) leads to an increased risk of road traffic crashes causing less serious injuries and vehicle damage.

REFERENCE: M. Bates and T. Blakely. 1999. "Role of cannabis in motor vehicle crashes.
Epidemiologic Reviews 21: 222-232.
"In conclusion, marijuana impairs driving behavior. However, this impairment is mitigated in that subjects under marijuana treatment appear to perceive that they are indeed impaired. Where they can compensate, they do, for example by not overtaking, by slowing down and by focusing their attention when they know a response will be required. Effects on driving behavior are present up to an hour after smoking but do not continue for extended periods. With respect to comparisons between alcohol and marijuana effects, these substances tend to differ in their effects. In contrast to the compensatory behavior exhibited by subjects under marijuana treatment, subjects who have received alcohol tend to drive in a more risky manner. Both substances impair performance; however, the more cautious behavior of subjects who have received marijuana decreases the impact of the drug on performance, whereas the opposite holds true for alcohol."

REFERENCE: A. Smiley. 1999. Marijuana: On-Road and Driving-Simulator Studies. In: H. Kalant et al. (Eds)
The Health Effects of Cannabis. Toronto: Center for Addiction and Mental Health. Pp. 173-191.
"Intoxication with cannabis leads to a slight impairment of psychomotor function. [However,] the impairment in driving skills does not appear to be severe, even immediately after taking cannabis, when subjects are tested in a driving simulator. This may be because people intoxicated by cannabis appear to compensate for their impairment by taking fewer risks and driving more slowly, whereas alcohol tends to encourage people to take great risks and drive more aggressively".


there is a lot more..

[betula]

Having been with many people who take this crap I know first hand what they are capable of and it ain't much.

Drive a car,don't kid yourself.

Put your son or daughter in the passenger seat with them if you feel so convinced...food for thought?

[BarriedaleNick]

Having been with many people who take this crap I know first hand what they are capable of and it ain't much.

Drive a car,don't kid yourself.

Put your son or daughter in the passenger seat with them if you feel so convinced...food for thought?

Unfortuantely I cant have kids but that wasn't my point.  My point was that we can all select evidence to suit our points of view and cutting and pasting from the web proves nothing much..I'd rather be in a car with someone who has had a joint than a drink, though preferably neither.

I have been with many poeple who smoke and have smoked for a long time and guess what - they are just perfectly normal people who like to smoke weed.  They run bussinesses, do responsible jobs, have loving families, have allotments and are capable of great things both socially, intellectually and creatively.  They are people you meet everyday - just because they enjoy a quiet puff in the evenings does not make then social outcasts.  If you have only met wasters then that is a shame.

[betula]

I have never at any point discussed wether my friends who take this are wasters or otherwise?

I am pointing out the state of mind when people take this stuff..........not what they do with the rest of their life.

I do not need to dip into the internet I just tell you what I have seen.

[Mortality]

'try this site for un-biased info!!
http://www.rexresearch.com/hhusb/hmphlth.htm '

My quote was from there orignally linked by tonybloke.

[BarriedaleNick]

I have never at any point discussed wether my friends who take this are wasters or otherwise?

I am pointing out the state of mind when people take this stuff..........not what they do with the rest of their life.

I do not need to dip into the internet I just tell you what I have seen.

Sorry -  as you said that they were not capable of much I assumed you meant that they were incapable - hence wasters - not trying to insult you or your friends - thought you were making a more general point.

[betula]

That is ok..........sometimes our points can get confused. :)

[Mortality]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=281443&rss=yes

All the cannibis he took couldnt have possibly caused it... ::)

oh no wait look at the bottom of the article

In his report, which Sergeant Butland read out to the court, he said:

"I've formed the opinion this collision was caused by the driver, Mr Purdue, due to the level of THC (cannabis) in his blood."

[Duke Ellington]

I am with Betula on this one. I had a very close family member that smoked cannabis for years so I know its consequences. The consequences were very unpleasant and terminal !

Duke

[Jeannine]

OK Ok enough already, I aint gonna take it  XX Jeannine

[tim]

Just so sad, Jeannine, that you're in a position to need it.

= Tim

[lewic]

[quoteExperimental studies of driving conducted on test courses have shown that performance is impaired by marijuana][/quote]

True. I ended up braking at puddles and swerving to miss bits of grass. And when another car passed I'd panic and pull over onto the verge when there was several feet to spare. 15mph max. Terrifying, but no danger to anyone (other than own mental health!). And it put me off dope for life. Tired drivers are much more of a hazard, IMO.

Jeannine, I dont know what your health condition is but I wonder if some of the legal meds might be contributing to your symptoms? Its usually obvious when you have had too much dope, but legal pharmaceuticals can be more insidious.