Driving while stoned is many things. It\u2019s selfish and irresponsible, because cannabis is almost certainly impairing, which also makes it unsafe. It\u2019s also risky and something you shouldn\u2019t do it on any day, especially not on April 20, when police will be looking for 420 dummies. But one thing it is not is an equivalent to drunk driving. <\/p>\n
This is a true and accurate statement\u00a0according to research<\/a>, but also true for another reason: In terms of metrics, impairment due to cannabis cannot be accurately measured like impairment due to\u00a0alcohol<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n And yet treating the two similarly was the approach taken by the first few states to legalize cannabis. After all, legalization\u2019s early tagline was to regulate marijuana \u201clike alcohol\u201d \u2014 even though this was an approach that marijuana advocates immediately warned was arbitrary and unscientific, a contention they backed up with data.\u00a0<\/p>\n This realization has dawned on authorities slowly.\u00a0Research<\/a>\u00a0has substantiated the fact that quantitative limits don\u2019t make sense for baked drivers.\u00a0 Courts have tossed out\u00a0driving-while-high<\/a>\u00a0cases because of it and blue-ribbon panels commissioned by states to dig deeper\u00a0have agreed<\/a>: alcohol-like \u201cintoxication thresholds\u201d do not accurately measure intoxication due to cannabis.<\/p>\n That said, \u201cbeing too high to drive\u201d is absolutely a thing. So how high is it? The University of Colorado\u2019s School of Public Health wants to find out.<\/p>\n A research team led by physician and medical school professor Michael Kosnett would like\u00a0you<\/a>\u00a0to volunteer to host your own personal 420 and then try to operate a\u00a0simulated\u00a0motor vehicle \u2014 all to help them figure out what \u201ctoo high to drive\u201d looks like and how to measure it.<\/p>\n As Leafly\u00a0recently reported<\/a>,\u00a0university researchers are currently recruiting for a study that aims to be more accurate and useful than prior research on the topic. For one, the study will ask participants to use their own cannabis before stepping into the driving simulator rather than government-supplied \u201cresearch-grade\u201d weed, which we know to be bunk stuff.\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019ll also be using cannabis in a way that conforms to their existing consumption habits \u2014 participants will be divided into three cohorts based on frequency of use (occasional, daily, and non-users). In this way, it is hoped, the researchers will be able to declare if a threshold of, say, 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood means something different for someone who rarely uses cannabis than it does for someone who behaves as if 420 is every day.<\/p>\n Remember that alcohol is water-soluble. Water cycles in and out of your mostly-water body very quickly, meaning that a test like roadside breathalyzers are good indicators of how much alcohol is active in your system, and thus a good measure of how intoxicated you are.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cannabis, by contrast, is fat-soluble. Traces of cannabis use, called cannabis metabolites, linger around in fat cells for hours, days, or (in serious cases) a week or more after the cannabinoid receptors are no longer activated.\u00a0<\/p>\n Also remember that operating a motor vehicle for much of the post-World War II era was a game of chance. Two simple innovations \u2014 mandatory safety belts, and an aggressive public awareness\/law-enforcement campaign against driving while intoxicated by alcohol \u2014 are credited with reducing road injuries and deaths, to such an extent that they are often called two of the greatest public safety innovations since food and medicine inspections.\u00a0<\/p>\n So everyone, from cannabis users and advocates to prohibitionists, should be able to find common ground in desiring roadway safety.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been very encouraged by the fact that regardless of where people are [with regard to cannabis], there seems to be a consensus that we want people to be safe on the road, and that we want objective tools to evaluate that,\u201d Kosnett told Leafly.<\/p>\n Participants in the study, which runs until June, are run through a battery of tests in the simulator and have their eyes scanned for ocular function, one of the basic roadside sobriety tests performed by police, before and after the driving test.<\/p>\n One thing to keep in mind: The study might not be perfect, as it measures driving ability immediately after getting stoned, according to Leafly\u2019s description. Participants are given 15 minutes to consume as much cannabis as they want via the method they want. They then have a blood sample drawn to measure peak cannabis intoxication. Finally, they are sent to the driving simulator for a half-hour test. The test includes basic driving functions \u2014 speed, placement in the lane \u2014 but also gauges how a driver will react in avoidance scenarios that require quick decisions when it comes to whether to brake or swerve.<\/p>\n Is hitting a joint a few times the same thing as taking a dab and waiting two hours? What about hitting a 1:1 vape while you drive? The answer, of course, is no \u2014 but studies like this are part of a long and slow progression. Until we know more, on 420 and every day, the wisest course of action is to ask yourself if you feel impaired. If the answer is yes, it\u2019s best not to drive.<\/p>\n Because if an officer of the law agrees with your self-assessment, it won\u2019t be good for anyone.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, how do you know when you\u2019re too high to drive?<\/p>\n The post Colorado Needs You to Use Cannabis and Drive \u2014 For Science<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Driving while stoned is many things. It\u2019s selfish and irresponsible, because cannabis is almost certainly impairing, which also makes it unsafe. It\u2019s also risky and something you shouldn\u2019t do it on any day, especially not on April 20, when police will be looking for 420 dummies. But one thing itContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[480,1609,50,1589,21,327,1697,9737,484,230,90,4136,420,5669],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34697,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34696\/revisions\/34697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Dude, Should I Get in My Car?<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: Colorado Needs You to Use Cannabis and Drive \u2014 For Science<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"