Legalize marijuana

[Shockm]

The one problem with legalized marijuana that I’ve never heard an answer for is the danger of people who are under the influence of weed and operating a vehicle. At least people who drive under the influence of alcohol are subject to a testing method, and a standard of 0.8 for legally being under the influence. There is no legal standard for marijuana and this could be dangerous.

[SubGod22]

If nothing else, we may need it legalized to get thru Shocker basketball season

[wufan]

The one problem with legalized marijuana that I’ve never heard an answer for is the danger of people who are under the influence of weed and operating a vehicle. At least people who drive under the influence of alcohol are subject to a testing method, and a standard of 0.8 for legally being under the influence. There is no legal standard for marijuana and this could be dangerous.

You have to pull them over for wreckless driving. Suspicion of under the influence is enough for an arrest and a test.

[Shockm]

You have to pull them over for wreckless driving. Suspicion of under the influence is enough for an arrest and a test.

Like I said, there is no equivalent of a breathalyzer test, and more subject to a police officers judgement.

'When the driver is pulled over, Law enforcement officers can ask drivers to undergo chemical testing of their breath, blood, or urine whenever the officer suspects the driver of impairment. If the driver refuses, he can automatically be charged with forfeiture of driver's license."

Wreckless driving is a misdemeanor. DUI is a criminal offense in all states. Without a viable standard, it will be more difficult to charge them with DUI.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/driv...ence_%28dui%29

[SB Shock]

If nothing else, we may need it legalized to get thru Shocker basketball season

Better option would be to tune out Shocker basketball.

[wufan]

Like I said, there is no equivalent of a breathalyzer test, and more subject to a police officers judgement.

'When the driver is pulled over, Law enforcement officers can ask drivers to undergo chemical testing of their breath, blood, or urine whenever the officer suspects the driver of impairment. If the driver refuses, he can automatically be charged with forfeiture of driver's license."

Wreckless driving is a misdemeanor. DUI is a criminal offense in all states. Without a viable standard, it will be more difficult to charge them with DUI.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/driv...ence_%28dui%29

DUI covers marijuana as well. You can do blood or urine, just not a breathalyzer.

[Shockm]

DUI covers marijuana as well. You can do blood or urine, just not a breathalyzer.

So police knows the driver has THC and marijuana in their bloodstream. Can you tell me the percentage of marijuana that is equivalent to 0.8 % of alcohol that makes it illegal? Police will know they’ve been smoking by smelling the smoke. If it’s not illegal to smoke, there has to be a standard of impairment. There isn’t a standard that I’ve found.

[wufan]

So police knows the driver has THC and marijuana in their bloodstream. Can you tell me the percentage of marijuana that is equivalent to 0.8 % of alcohol that makes it illegal? Police will know they’ve been smoking by smelling the smoke. If it’s not illegal to smoke, there has to be a standard of impairment. There isn’t a standard that I’ve found.

I’m not aware of a standard. If they had one, would you be in favor of legalization?

[ShockerPrez]

I wish that we knew how many people use weed now. With it being illegal. I just wonder how many would start after it gets legalized who aren't already using it. I bet it's not that many. I also bet that the # already using it is pretty high, (pun intended).

[Kung Wu]

Crash rates spike after legalization, and your insurance premiums will increase (this hasn't happened yet).

Consumption has doubled from 2008 to 2019.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/cra...w-studies-show

[SubGod22]

I wish that we knew how many people use weed now. With it being illegal. I just wonder how many would start after it gets legalized who aren't already using it. I bet it's not that many. I also bet that the # already using it is pretty high, (pun intended).

I doubt you'd see an increase in smoking. You might see people use more edibles. I do know people who will travel to get some edibles as they swear it helps them sleep or helps with pain. I could see some people that aren't at all interested in smoking or using it to get high, exploring edibles to help them sleep or something. It would be far less addictive than sleeping pills and much safer. Honestly, if it were legal and I could have something like that that might help me relax and get a good nights sleep from time to time, I might be open to it. I know I've had people recommend I try that when I go through my phases of horrid sleep.

But there wouldn't be a huge mass influx of users as a whole. You could have the persona who may want to occasionally dabble in it one weekend or something, but it's not going to have a significant impact on use. It would have a significant impact on creating jobs and the tax monies collected from it. I know some people currently growing hemp for industrial use that are prepared to switch or expand to cannabis should it be made legal. I'm sure they'd add more facilities to facilitate that and possible hire a few more people to assist in that growth. One of them also spent time on Oklahoma with some growers to learn some of what they need for both hemp and cannabis.

On a personal level, none of those closest to me use it in any form. I have had co-workers at a few different jobs that used it to varying degrees. One I know smoked on a regular basis. It never impacted his job and I don't think leadership ever had a clue. My next job I knew a few ladies that took edibles for sleep and pain and they swore by it. I don't think they were those that used it on a daily basis and more just as needed, but it never seemed to impact their work. Next job had a couple of people who used. One was fairly active with it, the other would smoke on the weekends in group settings around a fire or something. I'm pretty sure she still does that and has never had any issues with her job there or where she is now. I'm new to the current job and doubt anyone here partakes anymore, but that could be due to the random drug tests they could be subjected to. I wouldn't be completely surprised if a couple of them partake on some level at times, but I have no actual proof or knowledge of it.

I've also known a doctor who would partake on occasion when not on call. Never any issues.

Just saying a lot of very functional people already partake. If you really want to, I'm pretty sure it's easy to access. I know I could reach out to a few people on my extended friends/acquaintance list and find some or get hooked up with someone who could help.

But to come back full circle, there wouldn't be a mass increase in usage. You'd just get a better idea of how many people are already using it.

[SubGod22]

Crash rates spike after legalization, and your insurance premiums will increase (this hasn't happened yet).

Consumption has doubled from 2008 to 2019.

https://www.iihs.org/news/detail/cra...w-studies-show

However, the preliminary results of a separate IIHS study of injured drivers who visited emergency rooms in California, Colorado and Oregon showed that drivers who used marijuana alone were no more likely to be involved in crashes than drivers who hadn’t used the drug. That is consistent with a 2015 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found that a positive test for marijuana was not associated with increased risk of being involved in a police-reported crash.

So their studies also show that those who use are no more likely to get into an accident than those who haven't, but then focus entirely on blaming legalization? I believe some of these could also be credited to population increases as well as tourism which both increase the number of people on the roads, yet don't necessarily have a direct connection to weed as an actual cause.

They also go on at the end of the article to say that the increase was only in the short period after legalization and that things leveled off. Which would lead one to believe that legalization truly has little actual impact on traffic accidents as a whole.

Unless I misread or misunderstood something in that article. It seems to mostly be about speculation with little direct connection between what they were studying and the actual causes. Are there accidents with people who have recently smoked? Of course. Is it a wide spread issue that really causes a lot of problems? Not according to that data they shared.

I don't see anything in that data that points an annoying blinking arrow at cannabis as a major downside in relation to traffic accidents. I also like how they pointed out that while reaction times are diminished, evidence showed that those who had used marijuana tend to drive slower, less aggressive and were less likely to take risks when turning or overtaking vehicles. Of course driving sober is the best idea, but it also basically confirmed the studies out of the University of Iowa a number of years ago that concluded that while the above was true about reaction times and how they drove, they were definitely better drivers than those who'd consumed alcohol.

Nobody says driving under the influence of anything is good. There's just no evidence that I've seen that points to cannabis being some major issue in that regard.

[Kung Wu]

So their studies also show that those who use are no more likely to get into an accident than those who haven't, but then focus entirely on blaming legalization? I believe some of these could also be credited to population increases as well as tourism which both increase the number of people on the roads, yet don't necessarily have a direct connection to weed as an actual cause.

They also go on at the end of the article to say that the increase was only in the short period after legalization and that things leveled off. Which would lead one to believe that legalization truly has little actual impact on traffic accidents as a whole.

Unless I misread or misunderstood something in that article. It seems to mostly be about speculation with little direct connection between what they were studying and the actual causes. Are there accidents with people who have recently smoked? Of course. Is it a wide spread issue that really causes a lot of problems? Not according to that data they shared.

I don't see anything in that data that points an annoying blinking arrow at cannabis as a major downside in relation to traffic accidents. I also like how they pointed out that while reaction times are diminished, evidence showed that those who had used marijuana tend to drive slower, less aggressive and were less likely to take risks when turning or overtaking vehicles. Of course driving sober is the best idea, but it also basically confirmed the studies out of the University of Iowa a number of years ago that concluded that while the above was true about reaction times and how they drove, they were definitely better drivers than those who'd consumed alcohol.

Nobody says driving under the influence of anything is good. There's just no evidence that I've seen that points to cannabis being some major issue in that regard.

No. It's a legit study. The part you are missing is the spike in accidents is resulting from those that use marijuana and alcohol at the same time. The piece you quoted is saying marijuana use _only_ (without alcohol also involved). The spike is happening because after legalization there is a sharp increase in fatal accidents caused by people smoking dope and drinking alcohol at the same time.

[ShockerPrez]

I doubt you'd see an increase in smoking. You might see people use more edibles. I do know people who will travel to get some edibles as they swear it helps them sleep or helps with pain. I could see some people that aren't at all interested in smoking or using it to get high, exploring edibles to help them sleep or something. It would be far less addictive than sleeping pills and much safer. Honestly, if it were legal and I could have something like that that might help me relax and get a good nights sleep from time to time, I might be open to it. I know I've had people recommend I try that when I go through my phases of horrid sleep.

But there wouldn't be a huge mass influx of users as a whole. You could have the persona who may want to occasionally dabble in it one weekend or something, but it's not going to have a significant impact on use. It would have a significant impact on creating jobs and the tax monies collected from it. I know some people currently growing hemp for industrial use that are prepared to switch or expand to cannabis should it be made legal. I'm sure they'd add more facilities to facilitate that and possible hire a few more people to assist in that growth. One of them also spent time on Oklahoma with some growers to learn some of what they need for both hemp and cannabis.

On a personal level, none of those closest to me use it in any form. I have had co-workers at a few different jobs that used it to varying degrees. One I know smoked on a regular basis. It never impacted his job and I don't think leadership ever had a clue. My next job I knew a few ladies that took edibles for sleep and pain and they swore by it. I don't think they were those that used it on a daily basis and more just as needed, but it never seemed to impact their work. Next job had a couple of people who used. One was fairly active with it, the other would smoke on the weekends in group settings around a fire or something. I'm pretty sure she still does that and has never had any issues with her job there or where she is now. I'm new to the current job and doubt anyone here partakes anymore, but that could be due to the random drug tests they could be subjected to. I wouldn't be completely surprised if a couple of them partake on some level at times, but I have no actual proof or knowledge of it.

I've also known a doctor who would partake on occasion when not on call. Never any issues.

Just saying a lot of very functional people already partake. If you really want to, I'm pretty sure it's easy to access. I know I could reach out to a few people on my extended friends/acquaintance list and find some or get hooked up with someone who could help.

But to come back full circle, there wouldn't be a mass increase in usage. You'd just get a better idea of how many people are already using it.

Yeah, I don't think the legality of it really stops anyone that wants to smoke it, or get edibles for that matter. I mean, it's been going on forever.

[Shockm]

Just another con against marijuana that isn’t true of alcohol. This is a big adult problem.

https://sleepeducation.org/teen-mari...dult-insomnia/