How else do you explain the results of a recent poll that teens think marijuana improves their performance behind the wheel?
No really.
As the City Council of Lakewood, Washington heads toward the intersection of a decision May 21 – at which time at least one of the council has promised to make his views known – as to which way to turn on the marijuana debate, a collision course between those in support of retail marijuana sales and those in opposition, we’re hearing from kids that cannabis and cars are not a deadly mix.
Shockingly, “more than half of drivers age 15 to 20 believe using marijuana made them better drivers,” according to a 2018 report by Washington Traffic Safety Commission.
Adults scored only slightly better.
Experts and police officers – 200 in the state in the latter category specializing in impaired driving – see it otherwise.
They want to make the marijuana message clear: “drugs impair driving.”
“According to AAA, deadly crashes involving marijuana doubled in the state after legalization.”
The kids don’t get it.
Who is responsible to explain it?
The parents.
And the Lakewood City Council.
Knowingly perpetuating pot upon the public, promoting a psychotic that impairs – even kills – the barely post-pubescent, is on a par with a bar aiding and abetting an alcoholic hitting him up with another drink before he hits the road.
It’s about modeling. It’s about character. It’s about standards.
Speaking of which – standards – the just published May 14 Lakewood City Council report is, if it’s anything, about standards.
There’s “Engineering and pavement standards,” for example. And Rental Housing Safety Program standards. And Adult family and group home standards.
What standard, communication, message will be set and sent by the council for and to the kids with regards cannabis?
May 21 we’re promised an answer.
These scare tactics and polls are not reason enough to arrest adults for cannabis use, nor to prohibit retail cannabis stores. There is not one single figure of material damages in your one-sided write up. It’s all hyperbole and baseless claims.
The societal perception on cannabis is indeed changing, though. Weed is becoming more socially accepted and will continue to do so.
I think people who responsibly use cannabis have higher standards and are of a higher moral fiber than the do-gooders who try to drag others down in the interest of perpetuating their outdated views, while turning a blind eye to alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and the other things that they deem socially acceptable.
Paranoia makes people slow down, David.
Slow down, David.
Medical Cannabis users can run at blood levels of 10 to 50 ng/ml of THC and even higher in some cases.
This also ignores levels of CBD which have a major mitigating factor in the psychoactive effects of THC.
The daily use of Cannabis medicine results in a complete tolerance to the psychoactive effects of Delta 9 THC due to the receding of CB1 receptors in the central nervous system, specifically the brain resulting in no impairment in the ability to operate a motor vehicle while using Cannabis medicine properly.
I have gone from being a Sick, Angry, and often aggressive, driver due to illness, anxiety, depression, and constant pain, with no recourse but taking several pharmaceuticals; to a calm, attentive, relaxed, and aware driver due to the elimination of virtually all health issues and the need for pharmaceutical medications as well as all over the counter medications.
As an abstainer from alcohol I am very disturbed that current legislation is proposing to punish drivers for the use of medicinal cannabis (5ngs or higher) because they seem to be under a brutally false impression that this blood level of THC is equal to the same impairment as THC combined with alcohol. This kind of attitude is patently absurd from a perspective of one who has used cannabinoid therapy daily to function normally for well over a decade.
Because of the anti-cannabis propaganda of the last 100 years that is demonstrably false, communicating about actual dangers has been undermined. No one should drive impaired, but actual impairment should be measured, and the level of impairment from cannabis that is criminalized should be the same as the level of impairment for the blood alcohol limit. I have developed a new public health app that is a general measure of impairment from cannabis or any source–anything that impairs reaction time, hand-eye coordination, balance and the ability to perform divided attention tasks–it is called DRUID (an acronym for “DRiving Under the Influence of Drugs”) available now in the App Store and in Google Play. DRUID measures reaction time, decision making, hand-eye coordination, time estimation and balance, and then statistically integrates hundreds of data points into an overall impairment score. DRUID takes just 2 minutes.
NORML of California is promoting DRUID on their website and is encouraging cannabis users to download it.
Our website is http://www.druidapp.com
DRUID allows cannabis users (or others who drink alcohol, use prescription drugs, etc.) to self-assess their own level of impairment and (hopefully) decide against driving if they are impaired. Prior to DRUID, there was no way for an individual to accurately assess their own level of impairment.
DRUID was featured DRUID was featured in Wired magazine: https://www.wired.com/story/portable-field-sobriety-tests/
on NPR’s All Things Considered: http://www.npr.org/2017/01/25/511595978/can-sobriety-tests-weed-out-drivers-whove-smoked-too-much-weed
Also on television: http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/02/28/science-lags-behind-marijuana-impairment-testing/
And this past December on Spokane Public Radio: http://nwpr.org/post/progress-made-marijuana-intoxication-measurement-tool-0
After obtaining my Ph.D. at Harvard, I have been a professor of psychology at UMass/Boston for the past 40 years, specializing in research methods, measurement and statistics.
Michael Milburn, Professor
Department of Psychology
UMass/Boston
Your headline would lead one to believe teachers have failed to teach students about marijuana.
Jan, that would be a more accurate story.
I’m with you David. Good points. I’m wondering if some pot smokers really know the law? You have to be 21 or over to smoke it. No pot smoking in public. You can not drive under the influence of marihuana, medical or regular!
If the City Council passes this, I will be all for the Lakewood Police to draw blood AND blow into the machine.
Whenever I see an article on here spouting the outdated and sometime ignorant ideologies of the 50’s I know exactly who wrote it without even looking. I would consider some of theses articles quite humorous if it were not for the fact that some people may actually believe this persons rhetoric and rantings. He is entitled to his beliefs, but I for one am quite sick of seeing his opinion posted and possibly taken as fact. It nice that he wants to save the world, but I would suggest that if he feels that calling that maybe he address issues that are real problems, and present his ideas for solutions. I would suggest such subjects as Homelessness, bullying, Domestic violence and abuse; alcohol abuse; things that negatively effect us all in one way or another. I’m not sure why he is so opposed to the fact that marijuana is being used. For many people it is a life saver. There are volumes of scientific papers which support this fact. There is no viable excuse to make people who chose to use marijuana, for whatever reason, drive outside city limits to make their purchases. He also completely ignores the fact that this is an all or nothing proposal with the council; either a few highly regulated stores, from which the city will gain tax revenue are allowed, or the Lakewood council will go against the voted wishes of the public and once again make possession and use of marijuana illegal. At the very least there has to be some middle ground here, a compromise which all opinions and positions can accept.