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Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

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Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#281

Post by leptons »

loeg wrote: post #274
leptons wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They also frequently arrest people who have not had any alcohol or drugs at all for being "drunk". It happens far too often. Just one example of many: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFuVdlKD00s

Impairment is somewhat orthogonal to drug or alcohol intoxication. It's not safe to drive if you've been awake for 24+ hours, for example, or have some other medical condition (hypoglycemia, whatever) that impairs your ability to drive safely.

This has nothing to do with "intoxication" or sleep deprivation, or medical conditions. Some police will lie and charge people with "DUI" when there is zero justification, and they ruin lives because too many of them are sadistic assholes. It's in epidemic in Tennessee and other parts of the country, but it really could happen anywhere to anyone. Police unions are a problem, and taxpayers pay for the litigation when someone actually fights back against false charges.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#283

Post by boston_clone »

rayiner wrote: post #247
metadope wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the number of drivers in accidents with THC in their blood is going up because the number of people with THC in their blood is going up This. In just the short time since legalization, recreational use in my immediate vicinity (a small Ohio village, one stop light) has decidedly, undeniably increased. I offer only an anecdotal observation, but my evening walks around town are now accompanied by a dank potpourri of…

Same thing in DC. I thought the new development in DC where we lived had a major sewer gas problem. Turns out it was marijuana.

Genuinely asking - had you never smelled cannabis before living in DC?

To claim the odor is mistakable for sewer gas is borderline funny, unless you’re slyly trying to name a new strain.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#284

Post by NewJazz »

mattmaroon wrote: post #251
Youden wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a larger discussion in a previous thread on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45494730 Since then, [0] has been published and I think it's worth at least a skim. Since it's quite recent the introduction summarizes some of the most recent research. The things that jump out at me are: - [0]: Habitual users with baseline concentrations above legal limits perform just as well as habitual users wi…

But this paper specifically rules out legalization as cause because the numbers didn’t significantly increase after legalization.

Legalization does not signify usage.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#285

Post by [deleted] »

Aurornis wrote: post #159

Some helpful context: The number of Americans age 12 and older who report using any marijuana product at least once in the past year is around 20% (Source https://apnews.com/article/marijuana-cannabis-alcohol-use-di... ) if I use one of the highest reported use numbers I can find. Even if you dismiss all of the questions brought up in these comments like the use of mean levels instead of median, not accounting for to…

[deleted]

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#286

Post by Dylan16807 »

mrj wrote: post #107
walletdrainer wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but the problem isn’t whether or not a driver is impaired, but the degree to which they are impaired.

Well, it would be good for the rest of us on the road if people driving two tons of murder box are 0% impaired. I'm no angel but I have gotten more diligent... I'm just reacting to "the degree". The goal has to be zero degrees of impairment when a moment of inattention can kill. Also, my son was just hit by a driver while he was on a bike and in the bike lane. They claimed not to see him. He's fine thankfully but it'…

There's not really such a thing as 0% impaired. People fluctuate day to day, hour to hour, and have different baselines.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#287

Post by dmitrygr »

tokai wrote: post #13

An issue with having the legal limit at ~2-5ng/ml is that it makes habitual users be over the limit if they have smoked recently or not.[0] Making the prohibition seem unserious to some, not about safety but about punitive control, and in turn making it matter less if you smoke and drive as you are taking the risk of getting into trouble in any case. The impairments of driving under the influence of alcohol have been…

Perhaps habitual drug users should not participate in operating heavy machinery around people?

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#288

Post by __turbobrew__ »

carlmr wrote: post #128
macNchz wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a very widespread problem, I think, and probably has a complex mix of causes, but my perception as a NYC runner, cyclist, and driver is that there’s a fairly small percentage of extremely antisocial drivers who we allow to behave badly with relative impunity, which itself moves the Overton window of driving behavior towards aggression/chaos, so to speak. Very frequently when there is a newsmaking incident in whi…

>it turns out that they got dozens of speed camera tickets per year To me the answer is quite simple for any of these. Treat repeated small infractions like bigger and bigger infractions. E.g. double the cost every iteration if it happens within a specific time frame. Ok, you speed once? $100. Twice $200. Thrice $400. And so on. We only reset if you don’t reoffend for any speeding in 5 years. If you want to speed 20…

I’m strongly in favor of exponential punishment with very light punishments for first offences. It allows fluke infractions or bad luck to go without being punished too hard, but severely punish the small anti-social group that brings the rest of society down with it. So maybe if you accidentally run a red light once it is a $10 ticket, but next time it is $100, and then $1000, and then $10000, and then $100000.

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#289

Post by badc0ffee »

throaway123123 wrote: post #200
formerly_proven wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is very noticeable to basically everyone when you consume cannabis regularly.

not exactly. Depends how you consume it. Smoking, yes probably. The other forms of cannabis are less obvious. They are clearer highs without smell or smoke and much less burnout.

Less coughing and effects of smoke, but the burnout is definitely due to daily THC, even if you vape it or do dabs.

(To be clear, I don't think every daily user is a burnout.)

Re: Over 40% of deceased drivers in vehicle crashes test positive for THC: Study

#290

Post by Dylan16807 »

mrj wrote: post #215
wiml wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some occupations where we aspire to that low level of risk. But it would mean that driving can't be an everyday activity for ordinary people. No driving if you haven't been getting proper sleep; no driving if jet lagged. No driving if your attention is impaired by grief, stress, or impatience. Or if your annual physical reveals a risk. Or if you've ever had psychological complaints. We should absolutely mak…

That's probably not the thing to tell a parent whose kid just made a dent and a black smudge on a MachE. I don't want to over index on the "think of the kids" argument, but we don't take driving seriously enough. Wikipedia says: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of preventable death for people aged 5–22, and the second most common cause for ages 23–67. The linked article is astounding. The attitude in this…

The solution is to make the roads safer in general and/or reduce road use, not to take away people's keys for relatively tiny risk factors.

And in particular for the Uber situation, if taking a taxi 10 miles causes 15 miles of taxi-driving, that's less safe than driving 10 miles with a small to medium impairment.

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