Stinkypup

Does that still apply if heaven forbid a stoner crashes into say your nearest and dearest or yourself resulting in death or critical/ life changing injuries?

bats

Random thoughts which may or may not make sense.

Shops selling marijuana in controlled dosages, types, etc is surely better than risking that your street dope is mixed with fentanyl.

It would be easier to buy the right type for medicinal purposes.

I seriously doubt that new users will be driving impaired, if they haven't tried it because it's illegal they're unlikely to use and drive. There are plenty of stoners driving round already.

Making it legal might, should? , reduce trafficking of the drug.

R I C H

Take a read: Have you ever smoked weed? Answer this question and you could be banned from the U.S. - Politics - CBC News

R I C H

Everyone's a new user at some point. A small contributing factor to selling our business in Sun Peaks ski resort was the volume of kids openly smoking pot in the street and driving home stoned. If they were too young to get into bars, it was an easy option to sit smoking in the street.

There's no permanent policing in the community and road accidents were a weekly occurrence. We sacked several staff every season for coming to work high. My wife gets physically sick from its smell, so it increasingly inhibited our ability to enjoy life there and employ reliable staff.

A ski resort may not be wholly representative of Canadian society, but I can't imagine legalization is going to make the situation any better.

Vulcanoid

I've never partaken, and don't understand the imperative that people seem to have towards legalisation either - my biggest issue at the moment is the brazen hypocrisy in recreational BC life. RCMP will happily wander down a beach ticketing anyone enjoying a quiet drink with friends (a legal substance), having ignored the stoners in the park across the road who are (illegally) puffing acrid smoke over everyone else.

If people want to have edibles, I don't have much problem with that (although I do have a big problem with anyone driving under the influence of either pot or alcohol, and would call for a substantial step-up for roadside testing of both with heavy penalties), but the disgusting stench of smoke making public areas inaccessible, and the way it goes completely ignored by law enforcement while they take the time to punish people for less problematic activities is... irritating to see.

caretaker

We're all adults here, (or most of us), so no need to spell in front of the k-i-d-s, if you don't like it don't use it, if you don't like guns don't buy one, and if you're anti-abortion just don't have one. Stinky's neighbour Ross is poised to make some money off of it, and no surprise; stripped of an Olympic gold medal for testing positive for thc and then getting it back the question of whether it is a performance enhancer or a debilitating drug remains. Since not everyone is affected the same way there may be a return to the old roadside sobriety test, (close your eyes, touch your nose, walk the line). My old hunting partner was a swinging-dick iron worker and a connector and he told me about an old friend who beat the road side test quite handily while nearly blind drunk, he could have walked that line 100' in the air.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Rebagliati

jandro

I've read marijuana use can induce paranoia and other negative psychological effects as well as lethargy. Also studies show it's more harmful to the lungs than tobacco given that most people inhale if more deeply and hold it in their lungs to get their high. I think there are definitely negative health risks with it. I'm more against promoting it's use than against legalising it. It's ridiculous that in shops tobacco has to be kept hidden behind the counter in a cabinet with no signage while marijuana seems to be openly displayed in clear glass containers in those marijuana shops.

Danny B

I know that this is a very touchy subject, but after having spent 5 years as a volunteer with Kamloops RCMP, it is my experience that drivers under the influence of THC are safer than drunk drivers. They normally drive slower, and do not overtake other traffic. In fact slow driving (below the speed limit) is normally a good reason to pull someone over that you suspect is impaired.

I am in no way endorsing driving under the influence of any substance, but God forbid if my 20 year old Son was ever offered a lift home from a drunk or a stoner, I would hope to God he wouldn't get in the car with either, but if I had to choose it would not be the drunk.

Here is a brief extract from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art...2956/#S18title

Case-control studies are inconsistent, but suggest that while low concentrations of THC do not increase the rate of accidents, and may even decrease them, serum concentrations of THC higher than 5 ng/mL are associated with an increased risk of accidents

caretaker

True, the 'marijuana psychosis' is real and no doubt more common now than previously because there is far stronger marijuana available. Similar effects are caused by other drugs as well as alcohol. In tobacco shops, like marijuana stores they just cover the whole front of the place so nobody can see in. In convenience stores and groceries they keep tobacco hidden.

dbd33

It's not helpful to personalize the general case. We have chosen to move to a foreign country and should live with the customs of that country. It may be that you don't care for this aspect of moving to a place twenty years behind the times but it's part of the package.

As it happens, my Mother spent six months in hospital as the result of vehicular collision in which the other driver happened to be drunk; she sustained a broken hip, two broken legs, a broken collar bone, various other breakages. I'm not sure if she counts for your purpose but that was an upsetting turn of events for all involved. At the time drunk driving was not considered a big deal in the UK as it is not in Canada now.

Each country balances freedoms and the greater good, Canada is a freer country for drivers than the UK; that's not better or worse, it's just what they've chosen to do.

caretaker

Englishmen who've moved here or come on holiday told me it was easier to get and cheaper in England, so sticks and stones, er stoners I guess. Maybe context and the spectre of legalisation makes a difference.

caretaker

It's such a difficult thing to qualify, everyone is not impaired to the same degree by taking it, and some people may be right off the chart, the same way as alcohol doesn't affect everyone equally. We're using data from the legal states.

dbd33

I don't see how it can be easier to get than it is here. In my seven years with the stoner there were more times when I couldn't get Marlboro than when she couldn't get weed. At the pub it was common for people to say "we're going out for a joint, wanna come?".

Cheaper, possibly, I knew someone who posted a brick she'd bought in California to Toronto in order to save some money. At the time I thought it "coals to Newcastle". Incidentally, we drove from San Diego to Detroit with a supertoked cat on the dashboard, I suppose we could have been busted for possession, driving under the influence and animal cruelty all at once.

Danny B

100% agree with you.

The drink driving laws are so confusing here in BC depending on what type of licence you have, I think there should be zero tolerance. If you drive, you should not drink a drop of alcohol. That is my personal rule. I find it easier to drink iced tea all night than figure out if one beer every 2 hrs is going to put me over the limit.

bats

A friend is well informed on the effects of cannabis. She says it shouldn't be used by under 26s as the brain isn't fully developed and there's a higher risk of psychosis for young users.
She is strongly in favour of medical uses.

To RICH's comments. I meant that if someone is cautious enough to not have used marijuana because it's illegal then as legal users they are likely to be cautious about driving under the influence.
I take your point about the young people at SunPeaks. I know a guy who was a ski instructor there, gap year. One of us Facebook photos was of a huge bowl of weed.

Perhaps legalising it will bring more responsibility to users