Marijuana.com

Buzzby

In another thread we started talking about how it's riskier to smoke in vehicles than inside a home. I think vehicular risk reduction deserves a thread of its own:

Buzzby's Ten Commandments for Vehicular Smoking

1)Check your lights before you leave home. Getting pulled over for a broken/burned out light is a common scenario.

2)Drive with extreme caution, but not 20 mph under the speed limit.

3)Don't park and smoke.

4)If you do park and smoke, think tactically. Don't park where there is anyone nearby. Park where you can see anyone approaching. Get out of the car so as not to create an odor inside.

5)Don't put "Legalize It" or pot leaf stickers on your vehicle.

6)Never go for more than a very mild buzz. Any more increases the chances that you'll do something incriminating (i.e. stupid):
7)Keep your windows open. I don't care how cold it is!

8)Pay attention to other vehicles/people being in a position to see what you're doing inside your vehicle: don't smoke when someone is passing you, when you're passing someone, in multilane heavy traffic, or when stopped at a light.

9)Smoke joints, not pipes. There's no paraphernalia to get caught with and if someone sees you a "cigarette" is much less incriminating than a pipe.

10)Never be holding more than you can swallow instantly.

All further suggestions are welcome!

__________________

 

BartSimpson

Excellent Advice! Pure gold! For all the busted stories we read here, I respectfully suggest this should be pinned to the top. With 35 years of smoking behind me I can say I have NEVER been busted in the car, because I have followed these exact same principles.

My favorite is #9, Leave that bong at home; but #1 is Number One for a reason, the condition and operation of the vehicle is key - lights, seatbelts, and basic maintenance are a priority if you are going to choose to smoke in the car. Then drive like your grandpa . . . pick a lane, pick a speed and cruise.

Remember, the odor of MJ is distinctive and when we smoke we get olfactory fatigue - we don't smell it but anyone else around us would. Blowing smoke out the window is not sufficient and I suggest the second most important factor is odor control, by whatever means you choose.

diplomat

Bravo Maestro.

Buzzby

He drove a white Cadillac convertible with the top down, a big cigar clamped in his teeth, and his arm around a good-looking blonde. (His second wife was 30 years younger and a knock-out.) He couldn't grasp the utility of speed limits...


Thank you!

hauptmann

I avoid mixing cars and cannabis anymore. IMO There really isnt any point to go around driving and smoking when I can be doing the same thing someplace nice and safe.

Do it behind the safety of a locked door in your house or take a nice scenic walk somewhere secluded. Away from thousand pound hunks of metal flying down the road at all speeds full of multiple explosive liquids with really dumb people behind the wheel everywhere.

Even if you are a nascar driver while stoned someone could hit you and flip it on you cause you were stoned. Just not worth the risk for me.

But I know alot of people really dont care. If you are going to do it follow these rules to reduce your chances of getting busted. Just use common sense. Dont forget your seatbelts either stoners.

__________________
Marijuana.com Community Posting Guidelines

 

Buzzby

For the most part I agree. If I'm going to be driving a short distance and I want a mild buzz I'll take a couple of tokes before going out the door.

OTOH, I do a lot of multi-day road trips. I always travel with a German Shepherd and as of four years ago it started costing $600 to put him on a plane. (Prior to that it was $100.) Driving ten hours a day would render me unconsciousness from boredom without a little enhancement. I find that a couple of tokes every couple of hours keeps life interesting and doesn't produce any noticeable impairment of my driving abilities


Life is full of risks. Each person has to evaluate which risks are worth taking and determine the best ways to reduce their vulnerability to them.

phuzz01

I think Rule #1 should be DO NOT SMOKE IN YOUR CAR. Even if you guys get your way and marijuana gets legalized, it still needs to be treated like alcohol as far as keeping it out of vehicles. Driving under the influence of any drug (whether prescription, narcotic, or even marijuana) is extremely dangerous, and even if you are not "impaired," smoking it in your vehicle is akin to drinking an open container of beer in your car.

Stephanie S.

I agree with hauptmann and Phuzz. However, there are those long road trips, so I can understand bringing along one for the road. Basically though, we stopped taking anything with us on the road, even here, where the law is very relaxed.


peace

__________________
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio)

Buzzby

And you should never have sex outside of marriage and never, ever tell a lie. Meanwhile, back in the real world...


Why? It doesn't affect the mind or body the way alcohol does, so why should it be treated the same way?


Recent studies have concluded that consumption of a moderate amount of marijuana does not impair a person's ability to drive.


So? In the case of alcohol, it's not illegal to have some in your system when you're driving. DUI laws make it illegal to have more than a certain percentage. One beer doesn't make you a drunk driver. IMO, open container laws are kind of stupid. What do they have to do with your ability to drive a car? When you get pulled over for driving poorly you get a field sobriety test to see if you're impaired. If you appear to be impaired you get a breathalyzer. What's important is your degree of impairment, not what you happen to have in your car.

phuzz01

Not the studies that I have seen.

See Sexton BF, Tunbridge RJ, Board A, Jackson P, Wright, K, Stark MM, Englehart K "The Influence of Cannabis on Driving" (2000). They have another one with similar results in 2002.

"Overall, it is possible to conclude that cannabis has a measureable effect on psycho-motor performance, particularly tracking ability."

"In terms of road safety, it cannot be concluded that driving under the influence of cannabis is not a hazard, as the effects on various aspects of driver performance are unpredictable."

See Krüger H-P, Vollrath M. "Effects of Cannabis and Amphetamines on Driving Simulator Performance of Recreational Drug Users under Natural Conditions." (2000)

"For THC, speed and lateral position are changed while there is no effect on reaction time." My interpretation: so, while your reaction time is okay, mj does affect your average speed and your deviation from the lane.

See Ramaekers JG, Berghaus G, van Laar M, Drummer OH. "Dose related risk of motor vehicle crashes after cannabis use" (2004)

"Surveys that established recent use of cannabis by directly measuring THC in blood showed that THC positives, particularly at higher doses, are about three to seven times morel likely to be responsible for their crash as compared to drivers that had not used drugs or alcohol."

See Robbe HWJ. "Cannabis and Car Driving"

"Fig. 1 demonstrates that marijuana impairs driving performance by an increase in lateral position variability" (ability to stay in lane)

Then look at some of the effects that marijuana.com users themselves have described after getting high (taken from the "Chemical & Physiological" forum):

AylaKat: "When I stopped paying attention it seemed like I lost control over my body. My arms and legs would jerk."

Sideshow Bob: "my heart started racing so fast (this is not an unusual thing but it was really severe this time) that i had to lie down because i thought id pass out.."

Eat Me: "instead of the happy, giggly feeling that my friends get when they smoke it, i freak out. it's hard to explain, but i become convinced everything around me is a dream, and then when i slip back into reality momentarily, i'm so afraid of everything around me, because i'm not sure it IS real."

DrugLawReform: "When I first started smoking pot, I had hallucinations the first couple times."

Zappyisfun: " smoked some pot yesterday at 11AM then around 1120 i strated having a huge huge panick attack (arms got tingly,couldint breathe,heart beating fast,head was getting real real hot then a minute later it would sotp and some other weird **** would go on but even worse then the last one) and all this other wierd **** was going on that made me think ima die...so then i decide to try to go to sleep so i do at around 1230 i wake up at 5pm and i still have some of the effects (dizzy,feel liek throwing up,cant remember some stuff) then i go back to sleep and wake up at 11pm and STILL i have the effects then i went BACK to bed and just woke up at 8AM and now i still feel like i cant remember the last thing i said...."


Are these things that you want happening to people while they are behind the wheel?