cannabisnews.com: Roll and Smoke 





Roll and Smoke 
Posted by CN Staff on August 17, 2002 at 23:23:53 PT
By Stephanie Lapointe
Source: Montreal Mirror 
How stoned do you have to be before you become dangerous behind the wheel? That was one of the questions asked at the 16th International Conference on Alcohol, Drug and Traffic Safety, held last week in Montreal. And while a whole slew of representatives from the academic, scientific, political and law enforcement worlds talked about the issue, there doesn’t yet seem to be a consensus on how to deal with it.
The police say they are most concerned with saving lives, period. Just how much dope is in your system is, according to Sûreté du Québec Sergeant Pierre Angers, irrelevant. “The level of drugs is a sterile debate and I do not want to get into it because it will never end,” he says. “Our objectives are to remove those who are dangerous on the roads. The ones who may kill themselves and others.” But the levels of THC in one’s system while driving do not necessarily correlate into degrees of driver impairment. In fact, Catherine Tzambazis, of Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, drew the opposite conclusion. “It appears driving is more impaired as the level of drugs decreases,” she says. Her thesis results show the effects were most visible 50 minutes after smoking, when THC levels in the blood were lower, rather than immediately after smoking, when the amount of the drug in the blood is highest. “Regular users had much higher levels than non-regular users but they performed much better,” she adds. By all accounts, driving under the influence of drugs is not as dangerous as driving drunk. A study released at the conference by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) analyzing the role of alcohol and other drugs in traffic crashes in Quebec shows that alcohol remains the number one problematic drug for drivers. Apart from alcohol, the three drugs more frequently detected from urine samples of fatally injured drivers were cannabis, benzodiazepines (therapeutic drugs) and cocaine. However, the report states that drug presence in urine does not necessarily mean impairment. The leader of the federal Marijuana Party, Marc-Boris St-Maurice, doesn’t advocate using drugs at the wheel but is quick to point out what was said in the report. “My main concern exactly is that the level of drugs in the system are detected a long time after the joint has been smoked,” he says. “If someone who is not used to smoking marijuana takes two puffs, that person has a low THC level but is highly incapacitated. Whereas someone who is used to smoking a lot, that person’s THC level may be high but he is not affected.” St-Maurice also says that setting limits for the amount of drugs found in someone’s system is a political, and contradictory, issue. “There is no such thing as an ‘okay’ amount of illegal drugs. Rational drug testing is impossible.” Even though there is an ongoing dispute about the relevance of the levels of drugs in a driver’s body, scientists continue to develop devices to measure it. A California-based company called LifePoint has developed a saliva-based drug and alcohol testing system called Impact. It tests for marijuana, cocaine, PCP, amphetamines/methamphetamines, opiates and alcohol, and can detect them within five minutes. They claim that the results obtained from saliva testing are comparable to blood testing. Note: Conference reveals little consensus on drugging and driving. Newshawk: puff_tuffSource: Mirror (CN QU)Author: Stephanie LapointePublished: August 15 - 21, 2002 Vol. 18 Number 10Copyright: 2002 Communications Gratte-Ciel LteeContact: letters mtl-mirror.comWebsite: http://www.montrealmirror.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Party of Canadahttp://www.marijuanaparty.org/Alcohol Impairs Driving More than Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12299.shtmlToking and Driving: The Secret Perilhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12869.shtmlResearcher Studies Effects of Pot on Drivinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9860.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #3 posted by Dan B on August 18, 2002 at 06:37:00 PT:
Catherine Tzambazis is full of rubbish
“It appears driving is more impaired as the level of drugs decreases,” she says. Her thesis results show the effects were most visible 50 minutes after smoking, when THC levels in the blood were lower, rather than immediately after smoking, when the amount of the drug in the blood is highest. “Regular users had much higher levels than non-regular users but they performed much better,” she adds. 
First of all, it is stupid to compare "impairment" one second after smoking with "impairment" 50 minutes after smoking because it takes some time for cannabis to be absorbed into the system. What a stupid, stupid study this woman conducted. This is another example of why I say that almost all studies in the behavioral "sciences" are absolute rubbish and not worthy of intelligent conversation.Having said that, if there is such a wide array levels of impairment possible with cannabis then drug testing itself should be taken out of the equation. The only sensible approach to impaired driving should be a test for impairment, not a test for substances that might impair some, but do not seem to negatively affect others. The idea that all people who use the substance must be denied the right to drive is both malicious and absurd.Of course, many cops would balk at such a system. Why? Because it would mean that they actually have to pay attention to poor drivers. It is far easier to just pull people over at random, test them for illegal substances, and lock up the 10% that actually have such substances in their systems.I would argue that people who don't use their blinkers when turning or changing lanes are far more dangerous than the average cannabis smoker, even when driving 50 minutes after smoking. But cops don't seem to care at all about people not using blinkers--at least not here in West Texas. They're much more concerned with looking inside one's vehicle to make sure he or she does not have illegal substances or (gasp! Heaven forbid!) is not wearing a seatbelt.Dan B
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by p4me on August 18, 2002 at 02:36:49 PT
unrelated 
Cannabis Culture has an article telling of the 30 year anniversary of the Dutch coffeeshops dated 8/17: http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2575.html1,2
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by karkulus on August 18, 2002 at 01:16:25 PT
depth perception
    depth -perception changes are really the equivalent of driving with one eye closed if you're used to driving with two eyes open..just takes a wee bit of getting used-to.I don't like driving at night,though.(whilst buzzed)
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment