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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

#451

Post by belorn »

cogman10 wrote: post #355
belorn wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I think you miss the point of the comment you replied to. > The law's assumption that this level of THC is evidence of impairment seems to be invalid. I think most will recognize that THC causes impairment. The question that (AFAIK) is unanswered is if it can be measured simply by looking at the concentration of THC in the blood. In fact, if you look into the mechanisms for alcohol tolerance vs THC tolerance. What yo…

What the aviation study show is that the impair can continue for a very long time after a single small use. A blood test might be a terrible indicator how how much the impairment is, but the question then is how much tolerance you need in order to have zero impairment under some levels of THC. It also but a bit of doubt that even after 24hrs the impairment can be noticed, long past where the user subjectively feel any effect.

Alcohol tolerance might even be a positive here, since a drinker can drink a glass of beer 24hrs before a flight and be fairly certain that the ethanol has been broken down, regardless of tolerance. If THC metabolize slower as the body builds tolerance, then the impairment may continue for a longer time at a lower intensity even for a small dose, increasing the period of uncertainty.

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

#452

Post by n8cpdx »

yesbabyyes wrote: post #413
n8cpdx wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on the level of your habitual use. A 5mg gummy every evening is probably fine. I’ve seen plenty of people who are essentially using THC vapes like nicotine vapes, in that they use them every few hours and start to get anxious if they don’t. Stoned driving has become normalized - between seeing people lighting up behind the wheel on snap map, seeing it on TV (this happened in The Rehearsal season 1), and se…

> Kind of like vegans who haven’t tasted dairy for 10 years tend not to be reliable judges of the quality of vegan mayo - how could they possibly know? Wait, how is mayo, vegan or not, related to dairy?

Dairy is a category that depending on context may or may not include eggs. In this case the distinction doesn’t matter. Vegans wouldn’t have experience with strictly defined dairy or eggs.

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

#453

Post by rayiner »

boston_clone wrote: post #396
rayiner wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never smoked it or been around anyone smoking it. It’s more of a lower class thing in the U.S.: https://news.gallup.com/poll/642851/cannabis-greatest-among-... (16% of households making under $24k smoke cannibis regularly, versus 5% of households making over $180k/year).

hell yeah for being in that 5%! but why bring classism into it? in states where it’s more normalized, it’s pretty even across those differentiators: https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-t...

Explaining why I never encountered it. Even today usage is quite unevenly distributed. I’m from an affluent, WASPy town in Virginia. By contrast it was common even in the 1990s in the lower class parts of Oregon where my wife grew up.

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

#454

Post by scotty79 »

malikolivier wrote: post #374
boston_clone wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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've never smelled cannabis before in my life and don't know what it's supposed to smell like. I live in an area of the world where it's illegal and I guess not many people are smoking it. I may also have had a quite sheltered education. This year, I went to British Columbia, and there was this weird scent everywhere that I could not describe. My wife said it was cannabis. I'm still not used to it so I don't know if…

You will be. This scent is very distinct.

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

#455

Post by cogman10 »

belorn wrote: post #451
cogman10 wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you miss the point of the comment you replied to. > The law's assumption that this level of THC is evidence of impairment seems to be invalid. I think most will recognize that THC causes impairment. The question that (AFAIK) is unanswered is if it can be measured simply by looking at the concentration of THC in the blood. In fact, if you look into the mechanisms for alcohol tolerance vs THC tolerance. What yo…

What the aviation study show is that the impair can continue for a very long time after a single small use. A blood test might be a terrible indicator how how much the impairment is, but the question then is how much tolerance you need in order to have zero impairment under some levels of THC. It also but a bit of doubt that even after 24hrs the impairment can be noticed, long past where the user subjectively feel an…

The question then becomes "what level of impairment is tolerable".

Driving doesn't require perfect cognition, just good enough. If we went for perfect then anyone over 65 would be banned from operating a car.

And I think that's the hard thing with THC. Yes you may be impaired 24 hours later, but how impaired and how does that compare to age related impairment.

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

#456

Post by carlmr »

LorenPechtel wrote: post #298
carlmr wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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 in favor of escalating punishment, but it doesn't reset, it decays. Say 3 years with not tickets and it goes down one level.

That's fine as well. I just don't want to punish you for life for small infractions every once in a while. Humans make mistakes.

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

#457

Post by cluckindan »

lisbbb wrote: post #351
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.

[flagged]

These horror-style anecdotes are hilarious echoes from decades past.

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

#458

Post by scotty79 »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #406
malikolivier wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never smelled cannabis before in my life and don't know what it's supposed to smell like. I live in an area of the world where it's illegal and I guess not many people are smoking it. I may also have had a quite sheltered education. This year, I went to British Columbia, and there was this weird scent everywhere that I could not describe. My wife said it was cannabis. I'm still not used to it so I don't know if…

In my experience, weed smells like a skunk. Which makes it really annoying to be around people who smoke, that stuff is really unpleasant to have to smell. Honestly I don't know how people can stand to smoke it with how bad it smells.

I never smelled a skunk, but the first time I smelled this weed smell I immediately loved it and still love it to this day when I occasionally smell it on the street. Even though I don't smoke. I even bought cannabis scent incense few days ago.

I guess perception of this smell, like many others is genetic.

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

#459

Post by pretzellogician »

barbs wrote: post #449
pretzellogician wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, very rough. Marijuana still being illegal at the federal level, and often illegal at the state level, means it's not always in your best interest to self-report. For example, in my doctor's questionnaires. "Have you used illegal drugs in the last year?" I'm always going to say no. I don't trust security and privacy enough to say otherwise. And yes, for HN scrapers, I'll mention this is all hypothetical.

Not sure how much it differs from the US, but in Australia disclosing previous drug use is unlikely to provoke any response from authorities. The main drug crimes are possession and selling AFAIK, not using.

True! But insurance companies (in the U.S. at least) would also love to know that information...

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

#460

Post by scotty79 »

cj wrote: post #367
boston_clone wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating. I wonder if this is a genetic thing similar to people who sense soap for cilantro, except with terpenes instead of aldehydes.

I mean weed really doesn't smell good. If you're not turned off by the smell, it's a learned pleasure. Similar to how nearly every child will dislike the taste of alcohol, yet after drinking for a while they'll learn to tolerate or enjoy it. It can be a very overpowering smell. When an odor overpowers, it's harder to discern one scent from another.

> If you're not turned off by the smell, it's a learned pleasure.

For me it's was love at first smell. And I didn't smoke. Just smelled it from th adjecent room. It must be genetic.

Alcohol is always dreadful for me. Same goes for cigarettes.

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