caretaker

One friend was a supervisor on a project in Papua New Guinea and one morning he arrived on site and no steel was going up because the crane operator refused to work until someone brought him betel-nut. A few questions and answers showed that the man was a respected shaman (as well as heavy equipment operator) and he would probably do it as well stoned as not, so the corporate decision was made to get him some. There must be some great driver's license photos out there where the guys have bones in their noses, eh?

dave_j

I witnessed a near head on road collision this morning. I'm assuming from the time of day (09.45) that the stupid van driver, who just couldn't wait a few more second to overtake past a junction, was probably neither drunk or stoned but in a hurry.

Q. If his driving had been impaired through drink or drugs is it likely that his reactions would have been slower than sober and slammed into a completely innocent driver waiting to turn left?

Now some, from the tone of this thread would argue that, certainly in the case of marijuana, the driver would have been more careful, would have driven slower and probably not got into this kind of accident in the first place. Others would argue that being drunk would have induced the driver to throw caution to the wind and could have made the situation worse.

I say.. a plague on all your houses. The only way to drive safely is to have ALL your wits about you and to be able to make sensible decisions in real time as circumstances change, not when your brain thinks it's time to wake up and get involved.

If you're going to make marijuana legal then throw stoned drivers in the slammer and take their licences away, they don't deserve them.

Danny B

Nor do people who text or live stream video while driving. This is another leading cause of road traffic collisions (I'm not saying accident as that implies no one is at fault).

Texting and driving can be just as dangerous as driving after a few puffs on a joint. I honestly think that people should get a 24hr roadside suspension & a large fine for this offence. We need to nip this in the bud quick. Phones, young people and driving do not mix well....at all.

I'm telling you, once the current generation of smart phone addicted teens reach 16 and get a licence, the roads are going to be far more dangerous than a stoner driving to a kebab shop.

They hear their text message sound go off and think the world is going to end unless they reply to the text in the next 15 seconds.

caretaker

The law is hitting that hard, they put police in buses here looking down into cars and caught a few. I have a built-in bluetooth thing through the radio that allows hands-free communication but you still have to make an extra effort to be aware.

dave_j

I don't disagree at all. The roads are there for all to use and there is an assumption that those who use them do so intelligently and safely, but this is not always the case.

ANY activity that puts other roads users at risk is selfish in the extreme and we shouldn't excuse the drug user simply because there are those out there who act as dangerously.

Siouxie

It makes me chuckle when I see people talking about marijuana users getting "high" .. because unless they have access to one or two specific strains of it the chances are they are just chilling or maybe talking away 19 to the dozen (before going for whichever food is nearest) and then having a little snooze..

Personally, I'd far rather be around a 'stoner' than a drunk any day. Drunks can get argumentative, aggressive and confrontational - stoners never (or very rarely) do. I've yet to see or hear of a 'stoner' getting into a fight!

And yes, kids texting are a far greater risk on the roads, from what I have seen.

caretaker

The night is young.

Stinkypup

My thoughts,

Drinking under the influence of any substances that cause impairment, including alcohol, weed, numerous prescription drugs is always wrong IMO ( legal limits need to be clarified as per scientific recommendations, not anecdote.).

I absolutely agree with distractions causing accidents- again not just youngsters texting, older people text, smoke, hold their Timmys in one hand, phone in the other then change radio stations. -I would agree a significant cause of accidents which also needs more strict policing although around here this seems to be happening too.

I have no problem if people want to partake in weed as long as they do it without impacting on my or other people's health and personal freedoms
Marijuana certainly causes psychosis and this doesn't just impact the young- I have seen this several times personally in my line of work.
You already know my thoughts on "Medical Marijuana"- following July or whenever things get passed, people can do what they like but don't get me involved as a physician.

Just because I moved to Canada, specifically to BC doesn't make it compulsory because I somehow have to fit in with the neighbours, I don't get the reasoning on that.

DandNHill

When we first moved to Canada nearly 6 years ago we were shocked at how many people used/smoked weed. We quickly decided that it was because we were in small town NS. Eventually we moved to Halifax then Toronto and it was no different. My boss used to do it regularly even when she had staff on the premises.
I wonder what the percentage of people who smoke weed here compared to the U.K. is. I'm guessing it must be about double here?

scrubbedexpat091

I was surprised at how common weed use is in BC when I first moved here and its even more widespread now.

No employment drug testing for the most part in BC where in the US drug testing is the norm for even places like Wal Mart.

So there using pot even where legal can narrow down your employment prospects.

Bleepedy Bloops

It's a big problem in Canada, the pervasiveness of it. Anything enforceable that can get kids off of it I'm all for it. I will say that the potency of weed being grown these days is at a point where you can't even enjoy it anymore. At least I can't. I can definitely see how there would be a connection with these increasing numbers kids with drug-induced schizophrenia you hear about.

Danny B

This video from 2013 is an interesting watch. Three different people with different pot history smoke pot and then drive. They all seem to drive OK, even when 5x over the legal limit.

Things go downhill when they eventually end up smoking 0.9 gram of pot

Vulcanoid

No idea about prices. I was in Kelowna about 6 hours before someone came up & asked if I wanted to buy, that took 24 years in Bristol.

Stinkypup

Holy cow people are slipping... Substitute the word drinking...for driving

dbd33

It would be rude to do otherwise. Of course you're not obliged to do all the things the neighbours do but objecting to their customs, especially those that define their culture, suggests that one is not a good fit in the location. Weed is fundamental to the image of BC and, to a lesser extent, that of Canada. Stoned pacifism might be the national characteristic.

You may choose not to smoke but objecting to others doing so at all or while participating in other activities; such as driving or competing in the Olympics is at worst cultural imperialism and at best busy bodying. Tsk, if you didn't drive an environment destroying monster minivan yourself you'd be ranting at the redneck yokels for doing so.