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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

#341

Post by wredcoll »

loeg wrote: post #104
dragonwriter wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We can only cure this if we get serious about penalties Saying that in the country with world-leading mass incarceration mostly due to its decades long “war on drugs” which has very much not cured drug problems is a perfect example of putting ideological preconceptions ahead of reality.

We have world-leading criminality rates. Given that, the only alternatives are world-leading incarceration, or just letting criminals roam around making law-abiders' lives worse.

> We have world-leading criminality rates. Given that, the only alternatives are world-leading incarceration, or just letting criminals roam around making law-abiders' lives worse.

Somehow every part of this paragraph just keeps getting less correct.

America doesn't have "world-leading" criminality by literally any metric you care to choose.

Even if it did, also having world leading incarceration rates might make a rational, scientific type fellow wonder about how those could both be true!

Also, those are not in fact the only alternatives. It's not even difficult to think of more than those two. Have you even tried?

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

#342

Post by bko »

heavyset_go wrote: post #231
bko wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> victims of petty crime are usually poor or middle-class and therefore lack the political power to meaningfully change policy This is just not true. Most of this is organized exploiting a lenient justice system. From my original NYT article: > Last year, 41 people were indicted in New York City in connection with a theft ring that state prosecutors said shoplifted millions of dollars worth of beauty products and lux…

The idea that organized retail theft is significant or "most" is a myth[1] [1] https://www.brookings.edu/articles/retail-theft-in-us-cities...

Ah as long as Brookings Institute tells me it's a myth, I'll ignore the people selling basic toiletries right outside of drug stores, or bike messengers riding with suspicious taped up bikes that are poorly suited for heavy city use, or the videos of people coming in as a group, loading the bags and making off in get-away cars. Ignore what's in front of you, or the fact that nearly a third of shoplifting can be tracked down to ~300 people. These people maybe just have really big families to feed!

But you might ask why are stores closing? Why is deodorant behind lock and key?

> Finally, corporate claims are not holding up to scrutiny, and are being used to close stores that are essential assets for many communities.

Ah yes, evil corporations like to close stores and forgo profit for ... reasons.

Don't believe what's right in front of your eyes.

Nothing to see.

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

#343

Post by sokoloff »

rafabulsing wrote: post #322
Nasrudith wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you understand what "inherently dangerous" actually means. FYI murder requires intent, otherwise it is just manslaughter. Your indoctrination is showing by your turns of phrase.

Cars are inherently dangerous, though. They're multi ton hunks of metal moving at high speeds. That's dangerous from literally any angle you can imagine. There are ways to make it less dangerous, sure. But they're never 100% safe. Which makes them, by definition, inherently dangerous. That's... What those words mean.

So long as you’re also willing to label swimming pools, grapes, and crayons as, by definition, inherently dangerous on account of not being able to be made 100% safe, then I’ll at least grant you a level of consistency in your argument.

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

#344

Post by ok_computer »

epistasis wrote: post #7

Based on the headline, I was guessing it was any amount of positivity, and may be close to the population level, but it's actually impairment levels of THC: > In a review of 246 deceased drivers, 41.9% tested positive for active THC in their blood, with an average level of 30.7 ng/mL — far exceeding most state impairment limits. Since COVID in CA, it feels like driving has become far more dangerous with much more law…

Non-scientific anecdote here but I feel like the lawlessness is due to lack of enforcement for traffic violations vs an uptick in weed usage. Possibly covid scrambled our brains and promotes aggressive impulsive behavior. Maybe cops are afraid to pull people over because they might inadvertently shoot them and become a national news story. Maybe the adoption of big trucks makes people feel invincible (two distinct trucks on my drive have cut in line at a left turn lane with a red arrow and crossed 2 lanes opposing traffic at different lights, what would possess someone to do that(?))

Whatever the cause I feel in my gut that if our police did basic standards enforcement people would think twice about lawlessness. I’m in Pennsylvania.

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

#345

Post by ekianjo »

Sparkle-san wrote: post #53
terminalshort wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the truth is that habitual users are always impaired. Source: former habitual user.

Got any real sources? I've been a daily user for over 10 years and also have a spotless driving record.

> I've been a daily user for over 10 years and also have a spotless driving record.

n sample size of 1 does not prove anything.

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

#347

Post by belorn »

Youden wrote: post #114
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…

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…

My preferred way to wade through a political research topic like this is to look at the aviation industry. If a pilot can not use a medical substance, then it is very likely that there is some thing there. Pilots are generally fairly high investment, and they are also fairly international in research and standards. All nations with an airforce tend also be interested in such research, regardless of current political flavor.

From glancing at it, it seems that TCH impair pilots ability. Here is such study (done with flight sims). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1849400/

"The results support our preliminary study and suggest that very complex human/machine performance can be impaired as long as 24h after smoking a moderate social dose of marijuana, and that the user may be unaware of the drug's influence. "

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

#348

Post by rayiner »

boston_clone wrote: post #283
rayiner wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I had never smelled it before. It smells identical to sewer gas to me—I know what that smells like because our house was missing several drain traps.

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

#349

Post by Brian_K_White »

phito wrote: post #321
hattmall wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's seat belts. People who die in wrecks are overwhelmingly not wearing seat belts. I would think marijuana users as a group probably have average seat belt usage, but people who don't wear seat belts probably have much higher than average marijuanna usage. Roughy 92% of people wear seat belts. But that 8% of people that don't wear setbelts makes up 50% or more of all fatalities. From my personal experience it seems…

How are people not wearing seatbelt? I've never seen a car that doesn't make a constant annoying noise if you're not wearing it while driving. Do they mod the car to disable this safety system? That seems too far stretched...

Sometimes you can change a setting in software with a programmer via the obd2 port. It's not "too far" it's easy.

But even simpler is just a pacifier. Trivial.

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

#350

Post by leptons »

loeg wrote: post #312
leptons wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

So what? This line of argument can be used to dismiss essentially any crime, because police can always lie about whatever the particular crime is. It's not a principled reason not to have laws or enforce them.

Glad to know you're perfectly fine with lives being ruined for no reason at all.
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