No more stoned driving -- Colorado is passing THC limits for DUI

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Originally Posted by Dnutz

wow... if this bullshit law passes, im packing my bags and moving elsewhere... since when has it ever been a problem to drive high? people have been doing this for a few DECADES now and its never been a problem, why all of the sudden is this becoming an issue? I can answer that pretty easily, $$$$$$$$$ is the bottom line to the assholes in politics... its never going to be enough!

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MONEY, they cant arrest us for posession anymore, grower have found a safety net from these greedy bastards. so guess what...theyre going to fill their jails this way. mo money, mo money, mo money.

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Originally Posted by HighPopalorum

I had to explain to a cop that I couldn't recite the alphabet backwards. Sober, drunk, high - it doesn't matter. I can provide a lively overview of tripartite government, a thoughtful analysis of the causes of the Civil War, a succinct but humorous recap of the election of 1800. Ask me high school algebra, or to diagram a sentence, or about the relative merits of the wildcat and the wishbone. Unfortunately, sequences of letters and numbers have always been beyond me.

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Just so you know, I asked a cop about this once when they had me do some ridiculous field sobriety test. It was multiple things at once, like rub your belly in a circle while counting backwards standing on one foot. When it was done and he was satisfied that I was sober I asked him point blank if he was just messing with me when he made me do all that stuff. He said that drunks practice things like saying the alphabet backwards, but the cops don't really care if you can do it, just how you react. Do you giggle, slur, speed up and slow down, etc?

I'd be all for actual skills based testing, reflex response times, etc. but as others have said, the presence of metabolites or even THC in the blood does not indicate impairment one way or the other.

Maybe it should be illegal to drive after you fight with your S.O. I have been hit twice by idiots arguing with their wives. One ran a stop sign and destroyed the car I was in and injured himself badly. And I see some pinhead or another almost cause a wreck almost daily because they are on the phone.

Maybe all cars should have a little test that you have to perform before it will start. Bad reflexes? Who cares if it's because you're drunk or because you can't stop thinking about your problems. No driving for you. Conversely, if you can pass the tests the car will let you drive. Drunk, stoned, ripped on Viagra and Prozac, or just sleepy. Impairment is impairment is impairment.

This isn't about safety. All of it, 1290, the new regs they are proposing, videos and databases, this nonsense about blood levels and driving, and whatever comes next is a knee jerk reactionary blow against social change that some people don't like. It is the equivalent of the woman on The Simpsons who always freaks out and screams "Think of the children!"

They just don't want to admit that pot is basically harmless when placed next to so many commonly accepted risks.

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Originally Posted by PhatJay

I never mentioned zero tolerance.



You are someone who puts words into other peoples mouths and makes rash assumptions about peoples behaviour in a given situation. I don't see how these comments are related to the discussion or add any weight to your argument. For all you know, HighPopalorum if being tailgated, might pull over at the next junction/laybay and let the idiot tailgater pass.

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"Zero Tolerance" came from the article, I didn't say YOU said it.

Either you believe in freedom, or you believe in control. You have stated that you believe in control, that is your opinion, you are entitled to it, that's all it is.

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Originally Posted by HighPopalorum

*shrug*

If a reliable test can be devised and sensible limits set which do not penalize responsible marijuana users, I'm all for it. People should not drive when high. When they do so, they put the public at risk and deserve to face a penalty. Sobriety is the proper standard for operating a vehicle.

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A Michigan State Trooper told me once, "alcohol affects different people differently." Then he let me drive away after blowing a .12. No citation.

Even more so for marijuana. Most people who actually leave their houses understand this. Otherwise stay home (asshat). Probably why you have so much time to piss off decent folk on forums.

:stoned::stoned:

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Originally Posted by MtnLionCO

A Michigan State Trooper told me once, "alcohol affects different people differently." Then he let me drive away after blowing a .12. No citation.

Even more so for marijuana. Most people who actually leave their houses understand this. Otherwise stay home (asshat). Probably why you have so much time to piss off decent folk on forums.

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This. Being from Wisconsin I don't know a single person besides my mom and myself that don't have a drunk driving. Most have many. Luckily in Wisco drunk driving isn't a criminal offense (the first few anyway), its just a six months suspension of your license and a fine(you get your occupational immediately, even if you don't have a job).

Between 1 and 3am all of the cops disappear and let all of the drunk people get home (in the rural areas anyways). Drinking is big business and the Tavern League controls many a municipal government. Bars are some of the only businesses still around in small towns.

You can walk into any tavern and ask for "one with wheels" and walk out with a can of beer for your drive home.

The small town I am from, our municipal court judge has 5 DUI's and everybody knows it. He still gets elected like clockwork and will likely be the judge until he dies.

If you get pulled over smoking a joint you will get a ticket (for possession) but you will get to drive away right then and there.

As for the safety of driving while stoned, I really honestly dont think it makes a difference. Quite frankly there is no such thing as being stoned for me. Only being normal.

Everybody who made the point about cell phones, I agree totally. Every time some moron almost kills me he is fucking around with his phone. They often give me a dirty look like I am the dipshit.

I wish we could just undo cell phones. I fucking hate the god damned things.

Sounds great, asscore. Please try and keep your drunk driving friends and your drunk driving judge out of Colorado. Drunk drivers kill hundreds of Coloradans every year, so we don't need any more. If Wisconsin has such a laudably lax policy toward driving drunk and high, I suggest you stay there. If I see you driving drunk here, I call the cops with absolutely no exceptions.

And biketripper.... I've got 6.3k this year on my road bike, and drunks are my nemesis! I got run over by one last year to the tune of three ribs, both collar bones, concussion, and various lacerations. It's dangerous out there.

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Originally Posted by HighPopalorum

And biketripper.... I've got 6.3k this year on my road bike, and drunks are my nemesis! I got run over by one last year to the tune of three ribs, both collar bones, concussion, and various lacerations. It's dangerous out there.

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Switch to mountain biking :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Dorje113

Switch to mountain biking :thumbsup:

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no shit. Road cyclists are nuts. no wonder you're so tightly wound hipop!
;)

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Originally Posted by HighPopalorum

And biketripper.... I've got 6.3k this year on my road bike, and drunks are my nemesis! I got run over by one last year to the tune of three ribs, both collar bones, concussion, and various lacerations. It's dangerous out there.

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Oh believe me, I know. I bicycle too. I've worked as a driver, and as a bike courier in DC and Denver. Spend all day every day in traffic and you see it all. People are nuts in cars. But really, I think it is a mistake to lump pot in with alcohol as an equivalent danger.

Back when the first rounds of decriminalization went around the country (mid to late 70s) the same sort of things were said. After DC's decrim I heard an interview with an ex prosecutor for the city. He was asked about the dangers of pot and driving and what he said was that he would not want to ride in a car with a driver who was stoned for the first time, but that he would rather have an experienced pot smoker at the wheel with any amount of pot in his system than a driver with even one beer. I've always remembered his answer because it sums things up so well.

Most people are bad drivers, period. Aggression and distraction are the big dangers. Basically, people need to chill the fuck out, slow the fuck down and pay attention. I'd argue that pot is less of a danger than cell phones, texting, web browsing, speeding, jumping lanes, eating breakfast cereal, putting on makeup and most of the other crazy shit people do every day behind the wheel.

If there is a test that can measure actual impairment of abilities to drive then lets use it. But to set arbitrary blood levels with no scientific backing at all to say that this actually represents some threshold of danger? Has anyone seen any science behind this at all? But really, this is just one more way to demonize marijuana completely out of proportion with reality.

Did you know it also makes white girls want to have sex with Mexicans?