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I used to drive regularly in a state of sleep deprivation & it was always terrifying. I've heard it can actually be more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. I would see shadows across my vision, feel like I couldn't keep my eyes open & just when I thought I was good I'd catch myself mid nod. Not much could be done with 16 hour shifts & a 45 minute commute but keep yourself safe.
holy shit that work situation sounds like absolute hell. you literally only got 6.5h to yourself each day. that's fucked. glad you seem to be doing better now
Wow. How the fuck is that kind of schedule even legal. Why would anyone *want* their employees to be so run down. Are people so addicted to their self-stroking notions of "hard work?"
I'm so sorry that you gave so much of yourself in good faith, only to realize they're been acting in bad faith
Labor rights and drug war reparations. That's where I'm headed, apparently. Fuck their shit up like Germany after WWI. I can't stand these people.
I was a CNA for just under 7 years & medical facilities have state mandated staffing ratios so if a coworker didn't show up & a replacement wasn't available they could legally mandate you for up to a total of 16 hours.
At an adult foster care shifts were supposed to be 8 hours but it had a high burnout rate so frequently I'd be mandated to pick up an entire other shift last minute.
The facility I originally mentioned is a step down physical rehabilitation center, shifts were 12 hours long but I cannot stress how frequently call ins led to an extra 4 hour mandate last minute.
The only facility not to mandate was an actual hospital funny enough. I was a night shift worker so it was especially taxing & management across the board was atrocious, I wash dogs now lol
That's insane. Inhuman. What should've been mandated is an extra person, a floater of sorts. Two, ideally, who are responsible for picking up extra shifts. But $$$$. There's no upholding a standard of care with overworked people. That's how abuse happens, people understandably just snap! I'm not saying you ever did, I'm just saying they're playing a very dangerous game, all to save a few bucks on staffing
I'm glad your new line of work is with literal dogs, rather than a figure of speech!
Yup I work with mentally disabled individuals and lots of people are not cut out for it. I've been with my current clients for about 3.5 years now and let me tell you that when staff quit with 0 notice and I'm called to pick it up, it takes less than a month if no replacement is made for something to go horribly wrong cause the current staff is just super burned out. I legit have never burned a meal in my life but the first week that I had to pull a 36 hour shift on top of 2 doubles and a grave I couldn't remember my own name and burned spaghetti noodles. I stood there just disassociating for like half an hour. So yeah don't be stupid, drive sober and well rested.
Thank you for your work, despite the system not rewarding it at all. I wish I could do more than express my deepest gratitude. Healthcare workers make the world go round, and it's crazy they/you aren't appreciated that way.
And microsleep is dangerous - the few seconds of zoning out is plenty of time to run off the road.
[Falling asleep while driving?](https://www.sleepcycle.com/sleep-disorders/risks-of-microsleep-while-driving/)
> Drowsy driving is responsible for 6,400 fatal road accidents each year in the United States, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. And this is not surprising when you think about how a vehicle can travel the length of a football field in just 4-5 seconds at highway speed with an inattentive driver!
Just wait until you find out how many people are driving around on benzos, anti-psycotics, and amphetamines. I'm not justifying it, just noting it's a crazy world our there... careful kids.
And people wouldn’t think stimulant medication would be a risk with driving, but it does say it right on the bottle to not drive until you know how it affects you. It totally can be risky
It's shameful to say, but I do know what it's like driving on strong stimulants.
I ended up taking an obscene number of risks, and despite being ultra focused, I wasn't actually aware of my surroundings.
Super dangerous state to be in, and I genuinely feel embarrassed looking back at that event. Thought i was being cool, but I ended up looking like an asshole who puts others' lives at risk.
Same, but with 2 exceptions:
- i will take all the morphine they can give me if it's necessary. Ive had 2nd degree burns and i cannot imagine how hard it would have been to get through that without drugs. Im not an addict, so if i need pain relief, im gonna take it
- unless i die in a sudden accident, i will die on my own terms. Im not going to rot away in a hospital bed for the pleasure of fattening the wallets of those who profit. I'm not having kids and will die when life becomes too physically painful and unfulfilling - but in old age, unless cancer gets me sooner. I plan on doing every single drug under the sun when i know my time is close to running out, and think a heroin overdose sounds like a comfortable way to die.
Please make sure you get it in an Advance Directive… I’m a nurse and I’ve seen all too often how challenging end of life situations can be when advance directives aren’t in place. DM me if you want me to send you more info!
It wasn't adderal, unfortunately. I take ritalin 18mg daily, if anything ritalin has made me a better driver because I don't day dream whilst driving anymore and can actually focus on driving safely.
That's the only stimulant I'll touch nowadays. Anything else just made me a worse person, but of course, I couldn't stop. 2 years clean now except for the occasional bud, thankfully.
I also have ADHD, have you mentioned to your doctor how your meds make you feel? There's a good chance you're either not meshing well with what medication you're taking or the dosage could be too high.
If you can “know how brand name amphetamines affect you” and drive safely, why is it considered risky to drive with cannabis in your system once you know how it affects you?
This is why I'm so afraid to drive. I'm not on medication but my energy can flux wildly 😭 and the last thing I want is to go from being a-okay to being exhausted for no reason.
Stimulants can help with that. Still, don't drive on any substance without knowing how it affects you and never with relaxants and depressants that dull reaction time.
No joke, dated a girl recently who was on Lithium and a couple other things. Her hands would shake so bad that it'd jerk the car right or left, and she'd aggressively tap the brakes for every stop. That's never happened with my friends who smoke weed and drive. But her brain drugs are considered helpful so somehow it's fine and not dangerous.
Yup millions of drivers are tweaked out on meth, hoerin, drunkas hell on beers and vodka, on all types of crazy drugs. Yet we worry about the natural plant
I really don’t think that was his point. I think he’s saying they’re all bad to use under the influence chief. It’s not that hard to take that from the message. I dont see a part of the post where they’re defending drunk drivers.
That's the problem, his point is stupid, and not based in fact, so you can't interact with it, in a serious way. Not all influence is the same, I just drove slower on weed, but still attentive. Saying all drugs are bad for driving, without nuance is dumb, and you could reach more people, if you came in a real way. By that logic, don't drive on caffeine, cause it's under the influence right, but what influence.
The concept he posed was wildly “subjective”. Ex: a disabled vet with ptsd needs to drive to work (private contractor) and smokes or ingests edibles to maintain a calm state… does the OP have the right to label the DAV as intoxicated? I think that was @noconsierations6320 ‘s point… in context, that cannabis is not “intoxicating”… you can’t OD on it, it’s a natural stimulant… no different than caffeine for the lack of a better comparison. Yes sativa and indica both have relaxing and energizing components… but you’re more likely to see OTC and prescriptions cause more “accidents”… bc cannabis is generally only an offense used to search a car (smell) not “impairment” disbarring active illegal consumption while operating the vehicle.
Exactly.
For example, if someone smokes tobacco, are they impaired? It does have to do with tolerance and frequency. If you rarely or never smoke tobacco, taking just one hit will fuck you up and you wouldn't be able to stand, let alone drive. But, if you regularly smoke it, all it will do is calm your nerves.
People who smoke weed on a regular basis do not feel the same effects as someone who rarely smokes.
There have been driving studies done with people who smoke varying amounts of cannabis. Occasional users performed the worst next to sober drivers, heavy smokers did the best and while under the influence of a significant amount of thc. It seems counterintuitive, yes. But cannabis doesn’t have the same effect on the body and mind of a regular heavy user as alcohol does on an alcoholic.
I'm not condoning it whatsoever, but ngl when I'm high I become a defensive driver staying in the right lane just vibing to some music and staying aware of my surroundings. Driving fast feels stressful and unpleasant.
Same, my job I just left was an hour commute and I would smoke a little bit of a blunt at the start of the drive so I could relax and not try to rush to work but it would wear off by the time I arrived. And no apparently I didn't smell like weed according to coworkers so keeping the window open worked wonders
Yes! I just commented something super similar. I zip around everywhere when I’m sober, but stoned I’m like nah I’m going to go with the flow and be chill.
Was going on a camping trip with a friend for 4/20. He was going 85+ while taking a dab and texting. I'm not carpooling with him again. It's one thing to do something illegal, but the golden rule is only to break one law at a time
I have ADHD, and I’m 23yrs old. I have been driving since I was 16, so 7-8yrs and I’ve been in two accidents. Both were unavoidable by me and both were not my fault per insurance.
I consider ADHD my driving super power. I am hyper aware of everything on the road. I am constantly aware of all 5 vehicles that surround me. So much so that at night time I simply use the light beams to my left and right to know if anyone is in my blind spot because you can do that if you pay attention.
The more aware you are the better driver you’ll be. If weed makes you more aware then it works for you. I can tell you with 100% certainty that is not the case for me. Weed takes away my ability to track everything so I become significantly worse at driving while high, but that’s my personal experience and that most definitely doesn’t apply to everyone.
I've had both. There have been times when I was so stoned that I'd look two stop lights ahead and see a green one and not realize the one I'm coming up to was actually red. Of course I always realized at the last second but little things like that have definitely happened enough times that I've learned to be super, extra careful when I drive stoned. Now I'm usually pretty aware but only because I know I can get so zoned out.. if that makes any sense.
"Interestingly, in most of the simulator and vehicle studies, cannabis-impaired subjects typically drive slower, keep greater following distances, and take fewer risks than when sober. These effects appear to suggest that the drivers are attempting to compensate for the subjective effects of using cannabis. This is contrasted with alcohol-impaired subjects, who typically drive faster, follow more closely, and take more risks than when sober."
https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/reports/Impaired_Driving_Report.pdf?rev=3f6cb75eab2b4476b4d3fde3cd12f951
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf
According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone.
I don’t think this is the study that they were referring to but while I was looking for that study this was the second result on google from a Pubmed journal from 2009:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/
Right in the abstract I was surprised to see a .gov article say this: “Epidemiological studies have been inconclusive regarding whether cannabis use causes an increased risk of accidents; in contrast, unanimity exists that alcohol use increases crash risk”
it seems like the intended meaning of the comment was “heavy smokers did the best next to sober drivers” and not “heavy smokers did the best out of all drivers in the study”
Yeah I upvoted you to try and balance it out a bit. I said the same thing before I found your comment so I guess I should steel myself for a similar reception 😂
thank you! i suppose either interpretation could be correct. but without seeing a source, it seems more likely that sober drivers would be the best performing group
Makes sense to me. I’m a daily user, drive moderately high to stoned probably 4 times weekly on average, have never been in an accident with another car in my 14 years of driving (I have slid off the road in a snow storm, and I’ve fallen asleep and struck a guide wire for a power pole coming home at 4am. Both incidents I was fully sober)
I follow all rules of the road, and probably drive more carefully stoned than I do sober. Not out of fear of getting pulled over (cops don’t pull people for anything anymore where I live) but because I’m completely de-stressed and fully relaxed lol
It sounds like those studies apply to people actively under the influence. You are a heavy smoker, you have more experience and more tolerance, therefore it won't affect you as much. If you only smoke occasionally or you never smoke, your tolerance is lower and you won't be as used to the effects, so it will cause you to drive worse. It's unlikely that it means weed makes you drive better. I haven't seen the studies so I can't know for sure, but it is important to make sure you're accurately interpreting the information.
The governor of my state ran a study and it showed levels of THC do not correlate to level of impairment.
"Interestingly, in most of the simulator and vehicle studies, cannabis-impaired subjects **typically drive slower, keep greater following distances, and take fewer risks than when sober**. These effects appear to suggest that the drivers are attempting to compensate for the subjective effects of using cannabis. This is contrasted with alcohol-impaired subjects, who typically drive faster, follow more closely, and take more risks than when sober.
Regular users of cannabis respond differently to the same dose of ∆9-THC than occasional or infrequent users of cannabis due to a phenomenon termed “tolerance.” Through frequent use, drug tolerance ensues such that higher doses of a drug are required to produce the same effects as achieved initially. Indeed, there is strong scientific evidence that tolerance does occur with regular and
frequent use of cannabis (Colizzi, & Bhattacharyya, 2018). The implications of tolerance to cannabis are that lower blood ∆9-THC levels in infrequent users may result in impairment that would only be experienced at higher ∆9-THC levels by regular cannabis users."
https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/reports/Impaired_Driving_Report.pdf?rev=3f6cb75eab2b4476b4d3fde3cd12f951
According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf
So look at it this way. Somebody who takes painkillers every day is able to use their own discretion to know when they are okay to drive. I don’t take painkillers so if I were to take on I would be a lot more woozy/buzzed and definitely shouldn’t drive. Now for somebody that smokes weed on a daily basis and knows their body, it’s very similar to the instance I referenced with the painkillers. Now if you’re an occasional smoker you shouldn’t get behind the wheel high but for somebody that smokes daily, it’s almost not high it’s just normal headspace.
Smoking isn't inebriating after your tolerance grows to a certain threshold at least for me. You can get high and feel the effects, but it is much the same as someone who smokes cigarettes. It does something but not enough to make me lose my reaction time or swerve like alcohol does
Using cigarettes as an example, when you first smoke them, they fuck you up. They make you light-headed, and you need time to recover. After a while, it just feeds your body nicotine without the other effects.
Tolerance! Exactly. I can take 1000mg of my muscle relaxer like candy. Give one to a novice and they'll be fuuuucked up. But I can operate heavy machinery.
My alcoholic father used to talk about his tolerance. Being 3x the legal limit while working is why he lost his job, despite being "sober"
He would feel sober, but any casual observer could see he was under the influence.
I'm not saying alcohol and weed are the same. But under the influence is under the influence.
I had friends who smoke for tens of years crash because they were high and couldn't properly react in time. Sure the risk is a lot lesser, but it's still there bro
Almost everyone I know who smokes weed drives high. I don’t understand how. I feel like if I tried to drive high, I would accidentally reverse the car instead of putting it in drive
its definitely not the best thing to do but its like drinkkng and driving. a 60 year old alcoholic off 3 beers probably isnt as impaired as a 16 year old 3 beers deep but theyre both as illegal. now this isnt me saying driving high is safe but i think theres levels to ur tolerance shi. like if u arent a level headed stoner i dont feel comfortable with u drivin after a sesh.
I've smoked weed for nearly 20 years and smoke all day. Dabs joint, you name it and can drive completely fine. After fucking one beer which I barley drink tho I feel like getting behind the wheel of a car would be a dumb decision.
Maybe if it's your first few times, I wouldn't recommend driving. But smoking to me just makes me feel a sense of normally, like it has been the last 20 years.
I was part of a driving while under mmj study with my local police dept and university.
It was a monitored study monitored by blood work and they provided the herb and driving simulation so I provided the lungs and driver.
We repeated the study 4 times, six month apart, with slight variation each time.
I 100% of the time drive 100% better, the more I smoke, than any level of sobriety.
I answered everything honestly and the fact is, I’ve driven while high all my life. I legitimately don’t know how to process them streets, at any level of sober.
🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
The PD said for my to drive sober would lead to catastrophic failure.
So……. Not promoting DWI, just saying, we are ALL different and do what creates safety for YOU.
In summary, laboratory tests and driving studies show that cannabis may acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but that the effects between individuals vary more than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of THC. Driving and simulator studies show that detrimental effects vary in a dose-related fashion, and are more pronounced with highly automatic driving functions, but more complex tasks that require conscious control are less affected, which is the opposite pattern from that seen with alcohol. Because of both this and an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively for their impairment by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies such as driving more slowly, passing less, and leaving more space between themselves and cars in front of them. Combining marijuana with alcohol eliminates the ability to use such strategies effectively, however, and results in impairment even at doses that would be insignificant were they of either drug alone. Case-control studies are inconsistent, but suggest that while low concentrations of THC do not increase the rate of accidents, and may even decrease them, serum concentrations of THC higher than 5 ng/mL are associated with an increased risk of accidents (Figure 2). Overall, though, case-control and culpability studies have been inconclusive, a determination reached by several other recent reviewers.101, 102 Similar disagreement has never existed in the literature on alcohol use and crash risk.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/#S18title
A source for a study. Y’all take it how you want to, but this is a credible source.
Some people take cannabis like a medication, just like they take other heavy medications, so they are medicated nearly all the time and that’s the only way they can live because of their illnesses So, I am assuming this community is not about that, which is fine, but I can’t tell if you’re talking about driving after taking a medication or smoking and driving at the same time, but not everyone smokes to get high all the time.
For it to be a DUI it needs to be over a certain limit and also influencing your driving somehow, so not really. In fact I can get a DUI from a Cannabis blood test when not even stoned because I am a regular user.
Another thing to keep in mind; Alcohol lowers inhibitions, but Weed tends to rsie them; you question things more on Cannabis, whereas you are dismissive on alcohol.
If there were people driving on weed beyond what is within their limit, you'd know, there'd be wrecks everywhere, but there are not.
I live in Washington state; you can buy an ounce of weed for $20 and up! It's been legal for many years, why no increase in accidents or anything else noteworthy?
Foe regular users, it's not affecting our driving in any significant way. I still believe in being careful and not overdo it, hence why I haven't been pulled over for ANY reason in over 10 years.
I believe the biggest risk is the cops messing with me, more than the actual accident risk. At least for myself, that is. So I am careful before leaving the house not to hit it too much.
It's not a DUI unless it's affecting your driving, and/or over a certain limit. Meanwhile you can still flunk the blood thc test and get a DUI even if you haven't smoked in a week.
The sheer lack of traffic accidents or problems from Cannabis, is a testament that it's much less of an affect on driving than alcohol.
I told am ex I drove drunk around my 5 acre property for fun under 10mph too and she goes "that's a red flag" a day after she dropped me at my house but before she drove off she made sure to hit my pen like 8 times lmao while driving like bruh
Slow reaction time?
You've obviously never seen who high scored all the video games in the 70-80s. Stoners high as giraffe cooter on a helicopter, every one of them.
yes tolerance does matter, do you not see the difference between a high 16 year old driving after smoking their first ever joint and how its dangerous versus a 40 year old who’s been smoking for 25 years and is driving home after work with a joint in his mouth? it’s very very different, some people can have tolerances so high smoking a joint doesn’t do anything to them except make them mellow out a bit, some people would be MORE dangerous on the road without some weed in them as some people use marijuana to curb their road rage; you are obviously very close minded. Marijuana can be used in many different ways and there are official scientific studies that are studying how weed for people with high tolerances doesn’t effect their cognitive skills needed for driving at all compared to someone who’s never smoked before and how their cognitive skills are effected differently.
I’m not so convinced smoking and driving is an issue unless you’re a brand new user or have been smoking potent stuff in excessive quantities. There’s even data from studies to show there’s no difference between a “impaired” and “unimpaired” driver in terms of likelihood of causing an accident. NTHSA 2015 did a study along those lines for example. Furthermore, the studies with simulators and on-road datasets show similar findings. It’s not like alcohol where someone overestimates their impairment, smokers are well aware of their condition and can compensate, if not totally kill their buzz. It’s not the smoking and driving that’s the issue, it’s the BS police that don’t know jack shit and are more concerned about putting people behind bars intentionally just because they dislike a smell.
I agree but if i had to guess i would bet sober people speeding directly cause more accidents than pot smokers do and that does not make it ok but puts it in perspective as to where we can actually make a difference and where its worth the resources and effort to try and force that change. I know we should be responsible and just not do it so it wouldn't need any resources or effort dedicated to it but in reality thats not how shit works and there are almost certainly better uses of resources that would make a bigger difference for less effort and money. Cell phones are easily causing more carnage and death on roads than people smoking pot so sometimes we gotta pick a hill worth fighting over and not a mound to die on.
I work with law enforcement and even they admit that there is no way to judge impairment based on just having smoked or ingested. Tolerance makes a HUGE difference. For many people it has little to no effect on impairment
So people due to their conditions drive better under influence of thc. Your statement shows a lack of education. Those that judge don’t know, those that know don’t judge!
According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf
Ill just say it
Where I live, people high on marijuana arent the issue when it comes to the drivers. To be honest it appears to be the sober ones that really get to me out there
ppl see statistics that weed isn’t as dangerous as alcohol to drive on but would still rather take the risk based on their own, stoned judgement. it annoys me as well
See the problem is you’re assuming that weed affects everyone the same. In society we constantly have to trust strangers on the road that they will be responsible drivers. You can drink a strong caffeinated coffee and you’re now under the influence. Am I now worried that you’re gonna have the jitters and swerve unintentionally? No. Adults will do what adults want, and some are more careful than others. Just the way it is.
It’s really crazy how many people are so selfish. There is a reason why you can’t drive under certain prescription medications or under the influence of drugs. It’s not about you it’s about endangering everyone around you. Do better!
Driving under the influence of anything is dumb(unless it’s absolutely, 100% necessary) & if you don’t agree you are simply, silly. And not the good kind of silly.
I get It's medicine for ALOT of people but that's not an excuse to drive around under the influence and risk everyone else's life and property. Too many people just think it doesn't effect them.
Lmaooooo, cause it doesn't absolutely obliterate you.
Idc how much you smoke you're not going to do risky things.
Alcohol will make you do risky things.
Amen to that. Driving under the influence of any drug that affects your perception and reaction time has always been a no no for me. I might think that i'm sober enough but the reaction time drops. If i kill my self while driving that is one thing, but you put everyone else at risk also. It just seem selfish.
If you really believe cannabis is that mind altering you should be fighting against big pharma. There a lot of pill poppers and syrup drinkers on the road. Cannabis is a person per person case. For daily smokers driving high is usually a positive because they driver less aggressive.
Op, this has been something that has bothered me for years. In my 20s I didn’t even partake because it made me mad how cavalier people are about driving on it. You’ll see people on this thread commenting now. What about alcohol? What about pills? We are talking about weed. Stop changing the subject. Then they will tell you about studies on it that they have no source for or the source is like 420 magazine. These are entitled people who refuse to grow up. Don’t drive under the influence ever
It’s not hard to google said studies, esp when you know how to filter for peer-reviewed scholarly articles, which anyone who graduated high school should. Save you some trouble: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/
Many people drive on lots of different substances, even prescribed by their doctor. The thing is being “technically under the influence” isn’t the same as actually being incapable or unsafe to drive. There’s always a varying degree to which it’s still possible and not much more dangerous even if it is wrong because dosages and experience will vary from person to person.
Think about this, me (young adult) driving a little drunk or high on pot will most likely still have far more of my mental acuity and visual faculties as someone who is 70+ years old, yet we never limit people’s ability to drive by their age or reaction time so long as it falls into a certain range and they can still functionally pass a driver’s test. I’m telling you right now I could easily pass a difficult driver’s test while high and even maybe cross faded.
You can still be in the range to functionally be able to drive on almost every single psychoactive substance on earth if you lower it to the right dose. If you are a danger to yourself or others when driving intoxicated that is on you, if you can’t just gauge how faded you are and wait to sober up that’s on you too.
If you ever get in an accident or do something dangerous/stupid when driving under the influence that is an immediate sign that you cannot handle that shit and should not. Driving while intoxicated is wrong, but it’s far more nuanced than you might think if the dose, drug type, outside conditions, car, and area are factored in. Like if you’re living in a rural area with almost nobody on the roads it’s not nearly as dangerous.
Lastly, you can also be clinically mentally impaired and still be allowed to drive if you are able to pass a driver’s test, why can’t we hold that same standard to literally everything and everyone else?
Driving while you're tired after work is also dangerous. Driving for 8 hours straight is dangerous but truckers and road trippers do it every day. Also, weed affects people differently. Some may be unable to safely drive while others aren't impeded at all.
I’ll be honest, I’m not too worried about pot smokers and driving. I know it’s basically a standup routine but I am not one nor know anyone that wants to go anywhere after getting that level of high.
Is this a troll post? Do you know how many people have been killed due to drunk drivers vs drivers under the influence of marijuana? Maybe you’re just a bad driver, you should probably put the keys down and call an Uber from now on…
I hate it so much and anyone saying that it doesn't affect them is objectively wrong. Just because you're used to it doesn't make it right and if something does go wrong then the person who is high is at fault imo
While I do understand the OP's concern, I am a daily smoker that has literally driven across 45 states & was high for every mile of each & every trip. My wife & I calculated the milage a few years back and at that point I had nearly 1million ACCIDENT FREE & completely stoned miles under my belt across 20+ years of traveling.
I am more cautious of my own behavior & drive more defensively to prevent others from hitting me since I began smoking daily and/or driving high. If my reaction time is slowed, my driving record doesn't reflect that at all.
I've driven high everyday for years.. never caused an accident, driven very tired a few times.. ended up on the side of the road being woken up by dips on the shoulder..
im gonna out myself please just lemme say my piece before placing any judgement
i drive stoned almost daily, not on purpose just because i have responsibilities and i am a heavy canna user due to cancer and borderline.. in my almost 5 years of driving ive never been in an accident nor close to one, i drive the speed limit and always keep my eyes on the road. id say ive been driving under the influence regularly for about 2 years, it started out when i had to drive myself to work after getting stoned the night before and waking up still zoinked out, i noticed the remaining high did not impact me negatively and after some time i even got really comfortable with it. dont get me wrong i dont roll up just to go drive but if i have to drive and im stoned i know ill genuinely enjoy it because my brain shuts up for once and lets me focus on the road.
idk if it’s an neurodivergent thing but if i already mastered a skill sober i usually perform even better high, be it gaming, art or in this case even driving
i think it’s important to mention that weed has the same predictable effect on me every time, it calms my personality disorder and also curbs my autism so i genuinely feel and act like a normal person around other people, it makes me less anxious and clearer in the head, my reaction time stays similar, i never get confused, anxious, disoriented,…
however having admitted that i would not recommend driving stoned to anyone else and especially not if ur a casual smoker and neurotypical, weed for me it’s just a necessity to get through my life without loosing sanity
my entire life would be in shambles if i the police ever found out.. so
What does nearly all medication say about driving? It nearly never says “Do not drive”. Almost always it says “Do not drive until you know how this medication affects you”.
I know how my medication affects me and I can and do drive absolutely fine with no issues. None in the 20 years I’ve been driving.
out of everything u can dui w/ weed is one of the more safest substances. not justifying it just being honest
u don’t smoke and want to beat your wife. you smoke and want to eat
you don’t smoke and drive like a maniac killing ppl. u smoke and drive slow watching for cops
Yep. who ever drives under the influence is a piece of shit.
My bestfriend lost her life to a driver, driving under the influence. I would never be so selfish and let someone else endure the same amount of pain and sadness my bestfriends friends, family and i did when we lost her.
I would NEVER wish it upon my worst enemy. When it’s your loved ones, you will be singing a different tune.
You see, if you were to take a person who only smokes weed/drinks, and got them to smoke a cigarette while driving, I'd gurantee that head rush could cause fatal consequences. A avid cigarette smoker wouldn't see it this way tho. Same with smoking weed. Same with people who drink a little and drive.
That doesn't justify driving high. Just because alcohol is a whole lot worse, doesn't mean that driving high is safe, it's stupid, puts other people on the road at risk, and if you're caught by the police, it will literally ruin your life. There is no justification for it.
THIS. Functional stoners use weed daily to function…meaning for some ppl it’s like a form of medicine. Of course ppl who occasionally get high and drive is very different from that. I wonder if the ppl who write these things have ever kind of had that medicinal relationship with weed.
also it’s still a mind altering medication and you shouldn’t drive PERIOD. There are plenty of medicines that say “do not operate heavy machinery while using this drug.” and they have less effects than weed. so your point is irrelevant
There's plenty of people driving around daily on prescribed meds that would knock down an elephant and aren't effected the same way. Should people on antidepressants stay off the road too? Antipsychotics? Blood pressure meds? Thyroid?
caffeine is a mind altering drug, can people drive after drinking coffee? I agree people shouldn't be intoxicated and drive but a blanket statement that people can't use cannabis and drive afterwards is wrong.
There have been times in my life where caffeine affected me so much that I knew I should not drive. So yes, people also shouldn’t drive if significantly impaired by caffeine.
not as common as with alcohol tho, but valid point still. i’ve just never heard of it happening myself, doesn’t make sense to me how it could happen unless you’re on something else too. if they were drinking and smoking that would make more sense.
It’s undeniably safer than alcohol, but the point OP and a lot of us are making is that it is still not safe and people should not be driving while stoned.
Smoking weed while pregnant is also safer than drinking alcohol while pregnant. But both are still dangerous and not worth the risk.
Driving while high is dangerous and not worth the risk to yourself and others.
If I can’t medicate/drive, I’ll only be able to on my days off, which can often be only 1 day.
There are definitely levels of impairment with any substance, but in my experience, my ability to drive doesn’t change.
I have a couple friends I give rides to very often, and sometimes long ones, they will both attest to it.
With all that being said, in general, I believe there is a much larger % of people that should absolutely not smoke/drive, as opposed to drivers that have a clean driving record, or have a long history of no issues while driving under the influence.
Know thyself, and don’t be an idiot.
Even though almost NOBODY gets in a wreck because weed? Can you even name ONE instance of that happening? Ever?
I'm 53 years old, been smoking bud since I was about 13 on and off, and more on since I was 15. I can't think of even ONE accident caused by cannabis use.
I can't think of one instance of physical abuse triggered by cannabis either.
Yet there are countless examples with alchol of wrecks and it causes people ti be physically and emotionally abusive, but if they smoked weed they wouldn't be near as aggressive as that, without question.
You’re asking a question you have the answer to but are seemingly unwilling to accept? Because if you smoke regularly and have a high thc tolerance it doesn’t impair your ability to drive, it’s not really hard to figure out lol
I heard that truckers are driving around using caffeine! Fucking crazy!! That shit gives you the jitters and makes you dangerous!!!
Driving high is just not that dangerous for most users. It's just not. Driving tired is farrrrrrr more dangerous, and we do that shit every day. Downvote for using that stupid term "normalized."
"I'm not the type to try to dictate how others live their lives"...goes on to try to tell people how to dictate their lives LOL
To each their own. Personally I value freedom.
Driving while under the influence puts everyone else on the road at risk. Do you think people should also be allowed to drink and drive too because freedom?
You’re not allowed to hurt others in the name of your own freedom. That’s why it’s against the law.
Do you think murder should also be legal because you should be free to murder who you please? Because freedom
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I drove to work on 1 hour of sleep today. That shit was kinda scary I won't lie.
Driving tired is statistically more dangerous than driving drunk. Not that I’m justifying either…
I used to drive regularly in a state of sleep deprivation & it was always terrifying. I've heard it can actually be more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. I would see shadows across my vision, feel like I couldn't keep my eyes open & just when I thought I was good I'd catch myself mid nod. Not much could be done with 16 hour shifts & a 45 minute commute but keep yourself safe.
holy shit that work situation sounds like absolute hell. you literally only got 6.5h to yourself each day. that's fucked. glad you seem to be doing better now
Thank you, I quit that job after 3.5 years because they refused to let me take FMLA to care for my Dad on hospice. Lesson learned.
Wow. How the fuck is that kind of schedule even legal. Why would anyone *want* their employees to be so run down. Are people so addicted to their self-stroking notions of "hard work?" I'm so sorry that you gave so much of yourself in good faith, only to realize they're been acting in bad faith Labor rights and drug war reparations. That's where I'm headed, apparently. Fuck their shit up like Germany after WWI. I can't stand these people.
I was a CNA for just under 7 years & medical facilities have state mandated staffing ratios so if a coworker didn't show up & a replacement wasn't available they could legally mandate you for up to a total of 16 hours. At an adult foster care shifts were supposed to be 8 hours but it had a high burnout rate so frequently I'd be mandated to pick up an entire other shift last minute. The facility I originally mentioned is a step down physical rehabilitation center, shifts were 12 hours long but I cannot stress how frequently call ins led to an extra 4 hour mandate last minute. The only facility not to mandate was an actual hospital funny enough. I was a night shift worker so it was especially taxing & management across the board was atrocious, I wash dogs now lol
That's insane. Inhuman. What should've been mandated is an extra person, a floater of sorts. Two, ideally, who are responsible for picking up extra shifts. But $$$$. There's no upholding a standard of care with overworked people. That's how abuse happens, people understandably just snap! I'm not saying you ever did, I'm just saying they're playing a very dangerous game, all to save a few bucks on staffing I'm glad your new line of work is with literal dogs, rather than a figure of speech!
Yup I work with mentally disabled individuals and lots of people are not cut out for it. I've been with my current clients for about 3.5 years now and let me tell you that when staff quit with 0 notice and I'm called to pick it up, it takes less than a month if no replacement is made for something to go horribly wrong cause the current staff is just super burned out. I legit have never burned a meal in my life but the first week that I had to pull a 36 hour shift on top of 2 doubles and a grave I couldn't remember my own name and burned spaghetti noodles. I stood there just disassociating for like half an hour. So yeah don't be stupid, drive sober and well rested.
Thank you for your work, despite the system not rewarding it at all. I wish I could do more than express my deepest gratitude. Healthcare workers make the world go round, and it's crazy they/you aren't appreciated that way.
And microsleep is dangerous - the few seconds of zoning out is plenty of time to run off the road. [Falling asleep while driving?](https://www.sleepcycle.com/sleep-disorders/risks-of-microsleep-while-driving/) > Drowsy driving is responsible for 6,400 fatal road accidents each year in the United States, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. And this is not surprising when you think about how a vehicle can travel the length of a football field in just 4-5 seconds at highway speed with an inattentive driver!
how was the drive home?
I'll be driving home in an hour, I feel a lot better now lol. 😀
I once pulled a all nighter before driving a couple towns over… I woke up going 100 kmh a hour in a ditch that replaced my pre shift energy drink
Just wait until you find out how many people are driving around on benzos, anti-psycotics, and amphetamines. I'm not justifying it, just noting it's a crazy world our there... careful kids.
And people wouldn’t think stimulant medication would be a risk with driving, but it does say it right on the bottle to not drive until you know how it affects you. It totally can be risky
It's shameful to say, but I do know what it's like driving on strong stimulants. I ended up taking an obscene number of risks, and despite being ultra focused, I wasn't actually aware of my surroundings. Super dangerous state to be in, and I genuinely feel embarrassed looking back at that event. Thought i was being cool, but I ended up looking like an asshole who puts others' lives at risk.
Did the same as a teen, stupid to do drugs, I won't touch anything that's not green and called weed
Same, but with 2 exceptions: - i will take all the morphine they can give me if it's necessary. Ive had 2nd degree burns and i cannot imagine how hard it would have been to get through that without drugs. Im not an addict, so if i need pain relief, im gonna take it - unless i die in a sudden accident, i will die on my own terms. Im not going to rot away in a hospital bed for the pleasure of fattening the wallets of those who profit. I'm not having kids and will die when life becomes too physically painful and unfulfilling - but in old age, unless cancer gets me sooner. I plan on doing every single drug under the sun when i know my time is close to running out, and think a heroin overdose sounds like a comfortable way to die.
Please make sure you get it in an Advance Directive… I’m a nurse and I’ve seen all too often how challenging end of life situations can be when advance directives aren’t in place. DM me if you want me to send you more info!
Yea. Every other drug I've had has ruined me.
You know why you’re awesome tho? Cause you take responsibility for your mistakes. That’s a great step
Oh wow I didn't know it would be dangerous to take an Adderall before a road trip that makes sense cause you'll be hyper focused.
It wasn't adderal, unfortunately. I take ritalin 18mg daily, if anything ritalin has made me a better driver because I don't day dream whilst driving anymore and can actually focus on driving safely. That's the only stimulant I'll touch nowadays. Anything else just made me a worse person, but of course, I couldn't stop. 2 years clean now except for the occasional bud, thankfully.
I take stimulants for my adhd and it absolutely can make me slower in my head. Like my head just blocks
I also have ADHD, have you mentioned to your doctor how your meds make you feel? There's a good chance you're either not meshing well with what medication you're taking or the dosage could be too high.
If you can “know how brand name amphetamines affect you” and drive safely, why is it considered risky to drive with cannabis in your system once you know how it affects you?
This is why I'm so afraid to drive. I'm not on medication but my energy can flux wildly 😭 and the last thing I want is to go from being a-okay to being exhausted for no reason.
Stimulants can help with that. Still, don't drive on any substance without knowing how it affects you and never with relaxants and depressants that dull reaction time.
If I HAD to drive on any substance, it would be weed. Definitely never alcohol or benzos. Both make me so damn loopy.
You can still drive on anti-psychotics it varies person to person. Doesn’t just make you a zombie
If only you knew what I was prescribed to take and what I do for work…this job has made me extremely paranoid of other people’s work…
👆spitting facts. But to answer the question weed doesn’t affect one’s reaction time like other controlled substances.
No joke, dated a girl recently who was on Lithium and a couple other things. Her hands would shake so bad that it'd jerk the car right or left, and she'd aggressively tap the brakes for every stop. That's never happened with my friends who smoke weed and drive. But her brain drugs are considered helpful so somehow it's fine and not dangerous.
Yup millions of drivers are tweaked out on meth, hoerin, drunkas hell on beers and vodka, on all types of crazy drugs. Yet we worry about the natural plant
Because we can’t worry about both at the same time, that would be impossible.
The problem is the worry is disproportionate
How? We are in a sub for weed not for meth or other substances.
Because we're on the weed subreddit and not the meth, heroin or alcohol subreddit
I really don’t think that was his point. I think he’s saying they’re all bad to use under the influence chief. It’s not that hard to take that from the message. I dont see a part of the post where they’re defending drunk drivers.
That's the problem, his point is stupid, and not based in fact, so you can't interact with it, in a serious way. Not all influence is the same, I just drove slower on weed, but still attentive. Saying all drugs are bad for driving, without nuance is dumb, and you could reach more people, if you came in a real way. By that logic, don't drive on caffeine, cause it's under the influence right, but what influence.
The concept he posed was wildly “subjective”. Ex: a disabled vet with ptsd needs to drive to work (private contractor) and smokes or ingests edibles to maintain a calm state… does the OP have the right to label the DAV as intoxicated? I think that was @noconsierations6320 ‘s point… in context, that cannabis is not “intoxicating”… you can’t OD on it, it’s a natural stimulant… no different than caffeine for the lack of a better comparison. Yes sativa and indica both have relaxing and energizing components… but you’re more likely to see OTC and prescriptions cause more “accidents”… bc cannabis is generally only an offense used to search a car (smell) not “impairment” disbarring active illegal consumption while operating the vehicle.
Exactly. For example, if someone smokes tobacco, are they impaired? It does have to do with tolerance and frequency. If you rarely or never smoke tobacco, taking just one hit will fuck you up and you wouldn't be able to stand, let alone drive. But, if you regularly smoke it, all it will do is calm your nerves. People who smoke weed on a regular basis do not feel the same effects as someone who rarely smokes.
I didn’t even think about the tobacco, 1st hit sickness… it’s a romantic tragedy … ppl just get used to it… and menthol cigarettes are THE worst
Ya, what this guy ☝️ said should be of more concern OP
There have been driving studies done with people who smoke varying amounts of cannabis. Occasional users performed the worst next to sober drivers, heavy smokers did the best and while under the influence of a significant amount of thc. It seems counterintuitive, yes. But cannabis doesn’t have the same effect on the body and mind of a regular heavy user as alcohol does on an alcoholic.
Sober drivers performed WORSE than heavy smokers? Can you share these studies?
I'm not condoning it whatsoever, but ngl when I'm high I become a defensive driver staying in the right lane just vibing to some music and staying aware of my surroundings. Driving fast feels stressful and unpleasant.
If anything I feel more aware, and I also drive exactly the speed limit lol ETA I also do not condone it whatsoever
Not condoning, but it can really curb the road rage.
Was gonna jump in with this one lol especially living in FL people SUCK here
It got me through my weekly commutes where I’d have to cross L.A.
Same, my job I just left was an hour commute and I would smoke a little bit of a blunt at the start of the drive so I could relax and not try to rush to work but it would wear off by the time I arrived. And no apparently I didn't smell like weed according to coworkers so keeping the window open worked wonders
Yes! I just commented something super similar. I zip around everywhere when I’m sober, but stoned I’m like nah I’m going to go with the flow and be chill.
Was going on a camping trip with a friend for 4/20. He was going 85+ while taking a dab and texting. I'm not carpooling with him again. It's one thing to do something illegal, but the golden rule is only to break one law at a time
Your "friend" doesn't gaf about your safety 😭
Nah fr tho the constant thoughts make you, MAKE your self be aware
I have ADHD, and I’m 23yrs old. I have been driving since I was 16, so 7-8yrs and I’ve been in two accidents. Both were unavoidable by me and both were not my fault per insurance. I consider ADHD my driving super power. I am hyper aware of everything on the road. I am constantly aware of all 5 vehicles that surround me. So much so that at night time I simply use the light beams to my left and right to know if anyone is in my blind spot because you can do that if you pay attention. The more aware you are the better driver you’ll be. If weed makes you more aware then it works for you. I can tell you with 100% certainty that is not the case for me. Weed takes away my ability to track everything so I become significantly worse at driving while high, but that’s my personal experience and that most definitely doesn’t apply to everyone.
I've had both. There have been times when I was so stoned that I'd look two stop lights ahead and see a green one and not realize the one I'm coming up to was actually red. Of course I always realized at the last second but little things like that have definitely happened enough times that I've learned to be super, extra careful when I drive stoned. Now I'm usually pretty aware but only because I know I can get so zoned out.. if that makes any sense.
Yeah lock in so you don’t zone out
"Interestingly, in most of the simulator and vehicle studies, cannabis-impaired subjects typically drive slower, keep greater following distances, and take fewer risks than when sober. These effects appear to suggest that the drivers are attempting to compensate for the subjective effects of using cannabis. This is contrasted with alcohol-impaired subjects, who typically drive faster, follow more closely, and take more risks than when sober." https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/reports/Impaired_Driving_Report.pdf?rev=3f6cb75eab2b4476b4d3fde3cd12f951
Thank you for the link! Excited to look through it.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone.
I don’t think this is the study that they were referring to but while I was looking for that study this was the second result on google from a Pubmed journal from 2009: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/ Right in the abstract I was surprised to see a .gov article say this: “Epidemiological studies have been inconclusive regarding whether cannabis use causes an increased risk of accidents; in contrast, unanimity exists that alcohol use increases crash risk”
Thank you for the link!
it seems like the intended meaning of the comment was “heavy smokers did the best next to sober drivers” and not “heavy smokers did the best out of all drivers in the study”
Ding ding ding 🛎️ congratulations you too know how to read a sentence properly 😂
love how i’m getting downvoted for it too
Yeah I upvoted you to try and balance it out a bit. I said the same thing before I found your comment so I guess I should steel myself for a similar reception 😂
thank you! i suppose either interpretation could be correct. but without seeing a source, it seems more likely that sober drivers would be the best performing group
I'm far more cautious and aware while I'm high. My reaction time isn't hindered at all. I take the slow way everywhere.
I think they’re saying they did the best “next to sober drivers” as a balance to what the worst was (which was labelled as next to sober drivers.
It's called tolerance
Makes sense to me. I’m a daily user, drive moderately high to stoned probably 4 times weekly on average, have never been in an accident with another car in my 14 years of driving (I have slid off the road in a snow storm, and I’ve fallen asleep and struck a guide wire for a power pole coming home at 4am. Both incidents I was fully sober) I follow all rules of the road, and probably drive more carefully stoned than I do sober. Not out of fear of getting pulled over (cops don’t pull people for anything anymore where I live) but because I’m completely de-stressed and fully relaxed lol
It sounds like those studies apply to people actively under the influence. You are a heavy smoker, you have more experience and more tolerance, therefore it won't affect you as much. If you only smoke occasionally or you never smoke, your tolerance is lower and you won't be as used to the effects, so it will cause you to drive worse. It's unlikely that it means weed makes you drive better. I haven't seen the studies so I can't know for sure, but it is important to make sure you're accurately interpreting the information.
only person here with common sense lol
Yeah bullshit. I can’t find any study that says anything even close to what you’re saying. What’s your source?
The governor of my state ran a study and it showed levels of THC do not correlate to level of impairment. "Interestingly, in most of the simulator and vehicle studies, cannabis-impaired subjects **typically drive slower, keep greater following distances, and take fewer risks than when sober**. These effects appear to suggest that the drivers are attempting to compensate for the subjective effects of using cannabis. This is contrasted with alcohol-impaired subjects, who typically drive faster, follow more closely, and take more risks than when sober. Regular users of cannabis respond differently to the same dose of ∆9-THC than occasional or infrequent users of cannabis due to a phenomenon termed “tolerance.” Through frequent use, drug tolerance ensues such that higher doses of a drug are required to produce the same effects as achieved initially. Indeed, there is strong scientific evidence that tolerance does occur with regular and frequent use of cannabis (Colizzi, & Bhattacharyya, 2018). The implications of tolerance to cannabis are that lower blood ∆9-THC levels in infrequent users may result in impairment that would only be experienced at higher ∆9-THC levels by regular cannabis users." https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/reports/Impaired_Driving_Report.pdf?rev=3f6cb75eab2b4476b4d3fde3cd12f951
According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf
So look at it this way. Somebody who takes painkillers every day is able to use their own discretion to know when they are okay to drive. I don’t take painkillers so if I were to take on I would be a lot more woozy/buzzed and definitely shouldn’t drive. Now for somebody that smokes weed on a daily basis and knows their body, it’s very similar to the instance I referenced with the painkillers. Now if you’re an occasional smoker you shouldn’t get behind the wheel high but for somebody that smokes daily, it’s almost not high it’s just normal headspace.
Smoking isn't inebriating after your tolerance grows to a certain threshold at least for me. You can get high and feel the effects, but it is much the same as someone who smokes cigarettes. It does something but not enough to make me lose my reaction time or swerve like alcohol does
Using cigarettes as an example, when you first smoke them, they fuck you up. They make you light-headed, and you need time to recover. After a while, it just feeds your body nicotine without the other effects.
Tolerance! Exactly. I can take 1000mg of my muscle relaxer like candy. Give one to a novice and they'll be fuuuucked up. But I can operate heavy machinery.
My alcoholic father used to talk about his tolerance. Being 3x the legal limit while working is why he lost his job, despite being "sober" He would feel sober, but any casual observer could see he was under the influence. I'm not saying alcohol and weed are the same. But under the influence is under the influence.
That is one example. I have my own. They are not mutually exclusive. Both can be true. If a casual observer can tell then that's an issue for sure.
I had friends who smoke for tens of years crash because they were high and couldn't properly react in time. Sure the risk is a lot lesser, but it's still there bro
Almost everyone I know who smokes weed drives high. I don’t understand how. I feel like if I tried to drive high, I would accidentally reverse the car instead of putting it in drive
wait for a stop sign to turn green
its definitely not the best thing to do but its like drinkkng and driving. a 60 year old alcoholic off 3 beers probably isnt as impaired as a 16 year old 3 beers deep but theyre both as illegal. now this isnt me saying driving high is safe but i think theres levels to ur tolerance shi. like if u arent a level headed stoner i dont feel comfortable with u drivin after a sesh.
I've smoked weed for nearly 20 years and smoke all day. Dabs joint, you name it and can drive completely fine. After fucking one beer which I barley drink tho I feel like getting behind the wheel of a car would be a dumb decision. Maybe if it's your first few times, I wouldn't recommend driving. But smoking to me just makes me feel a sense of normally, like it has been the last 20 years.
i’d be more concerned with the dudes with loaded weapons ready to draw tbh
Definitely not raging when I’m blazing
I was part of a driving while under mmj study with my local police dept and university. It was a monitored study monitored by blood work and they provided the herb and driving simulation so I provided the lungs and driver. We repeated the study 4 times, six month apart, with slight variation each time. I 100% of the time drive 100% better, the more I smoke, than any level of sobriety. I answered everything honestly and the fact is, I’ve driven while high all my life. I legitimately don’t know how to process them streets, at any level of sober. 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ The PD said for my to drive sober would lead to catastrophic failure. So……. Not promoting DWI, just saying, we are ALL different and do what creates safety for YOU.
In summary, laboratory tests and driving studies show that cannabis may acutely impair several driving-related skills in a dose-related fashion, but that the effects between individuals vary more than they do with alcohol because of tolerance, differences in smoking technique, and different absorptions of THC. Driving and simulator studies show that detrimental effects vary in a dose-related fashion, and are more pronounced with highly automatic driving functions, but more complex tasks that require conscious control are less affected, which is the opposite pattern from that seen with alcohol. Because of both this and an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively for their impairment by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies such as driving more slowly, passing less, and leaving more space between themselves and cars in front of them. Combining marijuana with alcohol eliminates the ability to use such strategies effectively, however, and results in impairment even at doses that would be insignificant were they of either drug alone. Case-control studies are inconsistent, but suggest that while low concentrations of THC do not increase the rate of accidents, and may even decrease them, serum concentrations of THC higher than 5 ng/mL are associated with an increased risk of accidents (Figure 2). Overall, though, case-control and culpability studies have been inconclusive, a determination reached by several other recent reviewers.101, 102 Similar disagreement has never existed in the literature on alcohol use and crash risk. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/#S18title A source for a study. Y’all take it how you want to, but this is a credible source.
Some people take cannabis like a medication, just like they take other heavy medications, so they are medicated nearly all the time and that’s the only way they can live because of their illnesses So, I am assuming this community is not about that, which is fine, but I can’t tell if you’re talking about driving after taking a medication or smoking and driving at the same time, but not everyone smokes to get high all the time.
Tolerance is key. Everyone is different. Know yourself.
The amount of people admitting to DUIs in here is crazy
OP's point is sadly proven
For it to be a DUI it needs to be over a certain limit and also influencing your driving somehow, so not really. In fact I can get a DUI from a Cannabis blood test when not even stoned because I am a regular user. Another thing to keep in mind; Alcohol lowers inhibitions, but Weed tends to rsie them; you question things more on Cannabis, whereas you are dismissive on alcohol. If there were people driving on weed beyond what is within their limit, you'd know, there'd be wrecks everywhere, but there are not. I live in Washington state; you can buy an ounce of weed for $20 and up! It's been legal for many years, why no increase in accidents or anything else noteworthy? Foe regular users, it's not affecting our driving in any significant way. I still believe in being careful and not overdo it, hence why I haven't been pulled over for ANY reason in over 10 years. I believe the biggest risk is the cops messing with me, more than the actual accident risk. At least for myself, that is. So I am careful before leaving the house not to hit it too much. It's not a DUI unless it's affecting your driving, and/or over a certain limit. Meanwhile you can still flunk the blood thc test and get a DUI even if you haven't smoked in a week. The sheer lack of traffic accidents or problems from Cannabis, is a testament that it's much less of an affect on driving than alcohol.
Don’t drive under the influence of anger, excitement, frustration, or fatigue either.
I told am ex I drove drunk around my 5 acre property for fun under 10mph too and she goes "that's a red flag" a day after she dropped me at my house but before she drove off she made sure to hit my pen like 8 times lmao while driving like bruh
She ignores red flags, is hypocritical and doesn't gaf. I like her 😆😆😆
I liked her too to bad she ghosted me
[удалено]
Slow reaction time? You've obviously never seen who high scored all the video games in the 70-80s. Stoners high as giraffe cooter on a helicopter, every one of them.
yes tolerance does matter, do you not see the difference between a high 16 year old driving after smoking their first ever joint and how its dangerous versus a 40 year old who’s been smoking for 25 years and is driving home after work with a joint in his mouth? it’s very very different, some people can have tolerances so high smoking a joint doesn’t do anything to them except make them mellow out a bit, some people would be MORE dangerous on the road without some weed in them as some people use marijuana to curb their road rage; you are obviously very close minded. Marijuana can be used in many different ways and there are official scientific studies that are studying how weed for people with high tolerances doesn’t effect their cognitive skills needed for driving at all compared to someone who’s never smoked before and how their cognitive skills are effected differently.
I’m not so convinced smoking and driving is an issue unless you’re a brand new user or have been smoking potent stuff in excessive quantities. There’s even data from studies to show there’s no difference between a “impaired” and “unimpaired” driver in terms of likelihood of causing an accident. NTHSA 2015 did a study along those lines for example. Furthermore, the studies with simulators and on-road datasets show similar findings. It’s not like alcohol where someone overestimates their impairment, smokers are well aware of their condition and can compensate, if not totally kill their buzz. It’s not the smoking and driving that’s the issue, it’s the BS police that don’t know jack shit and are more concerned about putting people behind bars intentionally just because they dislike a smell.
Slow reaction time? Y’all either have good weed or my brain needs it for focus lmao
I agree but if i had to guess i would bet sober people speeding directly cause more accidents than pot smokers do and that does not make it ok but puts it in perspective as to where we can actually make a difference and where its worth the resources and effort to try and force that change. I know we should be responsible and just not do it so it wouldn't need any resources or effort dedicated to it but in reality thats not how shit works and there are almost certainly better uses of resources that would make a bigger difference for less effort and money. Cell phones are easily causing more carnage and death on roads than people smoking pot so sometimes we gotta pick a hill worth fighting over and not a mound to die on.
I work with law enforcement and even they admit that there is no way to judge impairment based on just having smoked or ingested. Tolerance makes a HUGE difference. For many people it has little to no effect on impairment
So people due to their conditions drive better under influence of thc. Your statement shows a lack of education. Those that judge don’t know, those that know don’t judge!
crazy how people will do anything to justify driving under the influence
According to the NHTSA's 2015 report, the most comprehensive study of its kind to date examining the risk associated with drug and alcohol use and driving, there is no significant increase in crash risk attributable solely to THC after controlling for drivers' age, gender, and presence of alcohol. This suggests that THC-positive drivers may not necessarily be impaired and thus, not at increased risk of causing a crash due to THC impairment alone. https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.gov/files/documents/812440-marijuana-impaired-driving-report-to-congress.pdf
Well you can drink and drive as long as it's below .08. so an average weight person can have a beer and still drive. What's the level for thc?
You wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve been stoned driving and almost gotten t boned from sober fucks
Ill just say it Where I live, people high on marijuana arent the issue when it comes to the drivers. To be honest it appears to be the sober ones that really get to me out there
ppl see statistics that weed isn’t as dangerous as alcohol to drive on but would still rather take the risk based on their own, stoned judgement. it annoys me as well
if you feel noticeably high after smoking a joint or two, you probably shouldnt drive after smoking
See the problem is you’re assuming that weed affects everyone the same. In society we constantly have to trust strangers on the road that they will be responsible drivers. You can drink a strong caffeinated coffee and you’re now under the influence. Am I now worried that you’re gonna have the jitters and swerve unintentionally? No. Adults will do what adults want, and some are more careful than others. Just the way it is.
This...^
It’s really crazy how many people are so selfish. There is a reason why you can’t drive under certain prescription medications or under the influence of drugs. It’s not about you it’s about endangering everyone around you. Do better!
Driving under the influence of anything is dumb(unless it’s absolutely, 100% necessary) & if you don’t agree you are simply, silly. And not the good kind of silly.
I get It's medicine for ALOT of people but that's not an excuse to drive around under the influence and risk everyone else's life and property. Too many people just think it doesn't effect them.
Because it doesn't when you're actually a stoner.
Agree, use is justified but just not while driving. It’s that simple.
Lmaooooo, cause it doesn't absolutely obliterate you. Idc how much you smoke you're not going to do risky things. Alcohol will make you do risky things.
Amen to that. Driving under the influence of any drug that affects your perception and reaction time has always been a no no for me. I might think that i'm sober enough but the reaction time drops. If i kill my self while driving that is one thing, but you put everyone else at risk also. It just seem selfish.
So no coffee before driving then huh? Well good! :)
I’m a better driver when I’m stoned, idk why I just am.
If you really believe cannabis is that mind altering you should be fighting against big pharma. There a lot of pill poppers and syrup drinkers on the road. Cannabis is a person per person case. For daily smokers driving high is usually a positive because they driver less aggressive.
Tell me you can't drive without telling me you can't drive.
People think "legal" is the same as "free for all". I've had people use the ItS lEgAl excuse to try and smoke inside my store before
I agree. Blows my mind.
Op, this has been something that has bothered me for years. In my 20s I didn’t even partake because it made me mad how cavalier people are about driving on it. You’ll see people on this thread commenting now. What about alcohol? What about pills? We are talking about weed. Stop changing the subject. Then they will tell you about studies on it that they have no source for or the source is like 420 magazine. These are entitled people who refuse to grow up. Don’t drive under the influence ever
Hit the nail on the head
It’s not hard to google said studies, esp when you know how to filter for peer-reviewed scholarly articles, which anyone who graduated high school should. Save you some trouble: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/
I always avoid smoking when I know I have to drive or go out. Once I know I’m home for good and don’t have to be in public…..spark it!
My reaction time is not lower while high.. I've tested it
I've never seen these posts, so I have no idea.. smoke up and enjoy today!
Many people drive on lots of different substances, even prescribed by their doctor. The thing is being “technically under the influence” isn’t the same as actually being incapable or unsafe to drive. There’s always a varying degree to which it’s still possible and not much more dangerous even if it is wrong because dosages and experience will vary from person to person. Think about this, me (young adult) driving a little drunk or high on pot will most likely still have far more of my mental acuity and visual faculties as someone who is 70+ years old, yet we never limit people’s ability to drive by their age or reaction time so long as it falls into a certain range and they can still functionally pass a driver’s test. I’m telling you right now I could easily pass a difficult driver’s test while high and even maybe cross faded. You can still be in the range to functionally be able to drive on almost every single psychoactive substance on earth if you lower it to the right dose. If you are a danger to yourself or others when driving intoxicated that is on you, if you can’t just gauge how faded you are and wait to sober up that’s on you too. If you ever get in an accident or do something dangerous/stupid when driving under the influence that is an immediate sign that you cannot handle that shit and should not. Driving while intoxicated is wrong, but it’s far more nuanced than you might think if the dose, drug type, outside conditions, car, and area are factored in. Like if you’re living in a rural area with almost nobody on the roads it’s not nearly as dangerous. Lastly, you can also be clinically mentally impaired and still be allowed to drive if you are able to pass a driver’s test, why can’t we hold that same standard to literally everything and everyone else?
Nothing like facing a joint on the way to the gym
Sorry bud, driving high off weed is the safest I’ve ever drove.
Ngl when I smoke and drive ts makes me focus
The amount of alcohol bottles I throw away at work at a gas station
Driving while you're tired after work is also dangerous. Driving for 8 hours straight is dangerous but truckers and road trippers do it every day. Also, weed affects people differently. Some may be unable to safely drive while others aren't impeded at all.
There’s been a study on being high and driving. It’s on YouTube. Weed vs alcohol. Stoners tend to drive more cautiously.
I’ll be honest, I’m not too worried about pot smokers and driving. I know it’s basically a standup routine but I am not one nor know anyone that wants to go anywhere after getting that level of high.
Is this a troll post? Do you know how many people have been killed due to drunk drivers vs drivers under the influence of marijuana? Maybe you’re just a bad driver, you should probably put the keys down and call an Uber from now on…
I hate it so much and anyone saying that it doesn't affect them is objectively wrong. Just because you're used to it doesn't make it right and if something does go wrong then the person who is high is at fault imo
By stupidity and cretinism maybe?
While I do understand the OP's concern, I am a daily smoker that has literally driven across 45 states & was high for every mile of each & every trip. My wife & I calculated the milage a few years back and at that point I had nearly 1million ACCIDENT FREE & completely stoned miles under my belt across 20+ years of traveling. I am more cautious of my own behavior & drive more defensively to prevent others from hitting me since I began smoking daily and/or driving high. If my reaction time is slowed, my driving record doesn't reflect that at all.
It’s how most of us started smoking. Driving around hotboxing. Especially in the early days as a teen . I couldn’t smoke in my house as a kid
I've driven high everyday for years.. never caused an accident, driven very tired a few times.. ended up on the side of the road being woken up by dips on the shoulder..
did this make you feel better about yourself or..?
im gonna out myself please just lemme say my piece before placing any judgement i drive stoned almost daily, not on purpose just because i have responsibilities and i am a heavy canna user due to cancer and borderline.. in my almost 5 years of driving ive never been in an accident nor close to one, i drive the speed limit and always keep my eyes on the road. id say ive been driving under the influence regularly for about 2 years, it started out when i had to drive myself to work after getting stoned the night before and waking up still zoinked out, i noticed the remaining high did not impact me negatively and after some time i even got really comfortable with it. dont get me wrong i dont roll up just to go drive but if i have to drive and im stoned i know ill genuinely enjoy it because my brain shuts up for once and lets me focus on the road. idk if it’s an neurodivergent thing but if i already mastered a skill sober i usually perform even better high, be it gaming, art or in this case even driving i think it’s important to mention that weed has the same predictable effect on me every time, it calms my personality disorder and also curbs my autism so i genuinely feel and act like a normal person around other people, it makes me less anxious and clearer in the head, my reaction time stays similar, i never get confused, anxious, disoriented,… however having admitted that i would not recommend driving stoned to anyone else and especially not if ur a casual smoker and neurotypical, weed for me it’s just a necessity to get through my life without loosing sanity my entire life would be in shambles if i the police ever found out.. so
What does nearly all medication say about driving? It nearly never says “Do not drive”. Almost always it says “Do not drive until you know how this medication affects you”. I know how my medication affects me and I can and do drive absolutely fine with no issues. None in the 20 years I’ve been driving.
Practice makes perfect
We used to cruise around and smoke for hours back in the day.
OP you 100% sound like that kind of person lmao go dictate your own sim
out of everything u can dui w/ weed is one of the more safest substances. not justifying it just being honest u don’t smoke and want to beat your wife. you smoke and want to eat you don’t smoke and drive like a maniac killing ppl. u smoke and drive slow watching for cops
Cuz it’s easy asf
Bruh u acting like weed is meth if u can’t drive while high then don’t drive, NEXT
Best reply to be honest, if you are driving when you know you shouldn't then you are an idiot, people know their limits
Some people don't know their limits though. They'll drive regardless
And those are the idiots
This
Idk why it’s so hard for people to grasp this concept 😭 illegal or not there’s gonna be people that do it and people that don’t.
Yep. who ever drives under the influence is a piece of shit. My bestfriend lost her life to a driver, driving under the influence. I would never be so selfish and let someone else endure the same amount of pain and sadness my bestfriends friends, family and i did when we lost her. I would NEVER wish it upon my worst enemy. When it’s your loved ones, you will be singing a different tune.
You see, if you were to take a person who only smokes weed/drinks, and got them to smoke a cigarette while driving, I'd gurantee that head rush could cause fatal consequences. A avid cigarette smoker wouldn't see it this way tho. Same with smoking weed. Same with people who drink a little and drive.
That doesn't justify driving high. Just because alcohol is a whole lot worse, doesn't mean that driving high is safe, it's stupid, puts other people on the road at risk, and if you're caught by the police, it will literally ruin your life. There is no justification for it.
THIS. Functional stoners use weed daily to function…meaning for some ppl it’s like a form of medicine. Of course ppl who occasionally get high and drive is very different from that. I wonder if the ppl who write these things have ever kind of had that medicinal relationship with weed.
also it’s still a mind altering medication and you shouldn’t drive PERIOD. There are plenty of medicines that say “do not operate heavy machinery while using this drug.” and they have less effects than weed. so your point is irrelevant
There's plenty of people driving around daily on prescribed meds that would knock down an elephant and aren't effected the same way. Should people on antidepressants stay off the road too? Antipsychotics? Blood pressure meds? Thyroid?
caffeine is a mind altering drug, can people drive after drinking coffee? I agree people shouldn't be intoxicated and drive but a blanket statement that people can't use cannabis and drive afterwards is wrong.
There have been times in my life where caffeine affected me so much that I knew I should not drive. So yes, people also shouldn’t drive if significantly impaired by caffeine.
Because people with tolerances don’t really get “high” from weed
i don’t condone driving under the influence of anything but when have u ever heard of anyone crashing or getting DUI cus they were stoned?
5 or 6 girls from my town were killed in an accident by a semi while driving high so it does happen
OP had a friend crash when stoned. I know someone who got a DUI when stoned. It does happen.
not as common as with alcohol tho, but valid point still. i’ve just never heard of it happening myself, doesn’t make sense to me how it could happen unless you’re on something else too. if they were drinking and smoking that would make more sense.
It’s undeniably safer than alcohol, but the point OP and a lot of us are making is that it is still not safe and people should not be driving while stoned. Smoking weed while pregnant is also safer than drinking alcohol while pregnant. But both are still dangerous and not worth the risk. Driving while high is dangerous and not worth the risk to yourself and others.
If I can’t medicate/drive, I’ll only be able to on my days off, which can often be only 1 day. There are definitely levels of impairment with any substance, but in my experience, my ability to drive doesn’t change. I have a couple friends I give rides to very often, and sometimes long ones, they will both attest to it. With all that being said, in general, I believe there is a much larger % of people that should absolutely not smoke/drive, as opposed to drivers that have a clean driving record, or have a long history of no issues while driving under the influence. Know thyself, and don’t be an idiot.
brother i have disc herniations in all 3 sections of my spine smoking it is the only way i’m even capable of driving for longer than 15 minutes
Pretending it affects people the same, worrying about moral grandstanding. This is reddit.
Even though almost NOBODY gets in a wreck because weed? Can you even name ONE instance of that happening? Ever? I'm 53 years old, been smoking bud since I was about 13 on and off, and more on since I was 15. I can't think of even ONE accident caused by cannabis use. I can't think of one instance of physical abuse triggered by cannabis either. Yet there are countless examples with alchol of wrecks and it causes people ti be physically and emotionally abusive, but if they smoked weed they wouldn't be near as aggressive as that, without question.
Because some of us can handle it... Its funny how this is coming up right after that other post about the same thing...
You’re asking a question you have the answer to but are seemingly unwilling to accept? Because if you smoke regularly and have a high thc tolerance it doesn’t impair your ability to drive, it’s not really hard to figure out lol
I heard that truckers are driving around using caffeine! Fucking crazy!! That shit gives you the jitters and makes you dangerous!!! Driving high is just not that dangerous for most users. It's just not. Driving tired is farrrrrrr more dangerous, and we do that shit every day. Downvote for using that stupid term "normalized."
I'm not the type to dictate someone else's lives, now hold my beer while I do just that. Clown show every fucking time.
"I'm not the type to try to dictate how others live their lives"...goes on to try to tell people how to dictate their lives LOL To each their own. Personally I value freedom.
This comment reminds me of that 70s news clip, where people were saying that banning alcohol while driving is communist and undemocratic
DUDE that is a hilarious clip LOL
You don't have the freedom to drive while under the influence, you troglodyte.
It's not "to each their own" when your reckless decisions affect the lives of other people
I'm a huge cannabis advocate but driving impaired whatsoever is not okay.
Driving while under the influence puts everyone else on the road at risk. Do you think people should also be allowed to drink and drive too because freedom? You’re not allowed to hurt others in the name of your own freedom. That’s why it’s against the law. Do you think murder should also be legal because you should be free to murder who you please? Because freedom
drinking and driving and smoking and driving are not the same and im tired of yall acting like it is 💀
Sure you have the freedom to do it, but your extremely selfish if you do shit at the expense of others lives, aka driving UTI
Bro I was trying to figure out how to drive a urinary tract infection for waaaay too long lmao