I know someone who took their test stoned. I reckon they should be allowed as they have been judged competent in that state.

And ww2 pilots flew successfully on dexadrine, but agreed, too much amphetamines seriously compromise concentration

Let us know how it goes bunnyhop, but maybe don’t post on here while you’re driving as well.

😉

Might affect your judgement, not sure about concentration.

Nope, concentration, you get fixated on one element of whatever task whilst on phet, I once had a very amusing afternoon watching two whizzing mechanics trying to fit a rear screen in the days when they were held in by filleted rubber seals, straight, a 10 to 20 minutes job, I was in f****G tears watching them fixate for hours on trying to get the seal “just so”

TBH too much caffeine affects my judgement and concentration levels – I have an empty jumpy consciousness if I drink too much coffee. I think I’d be safer after a small amount of weed than a large amount of coffee – except perhaps from the point of view of remaining awake at all, which is quite important.

In my opinion, if caffeine was taken I’m similar doses to other illegal stimulants, it would be farmore dangerous…

Anything that detracts from your concentration and motor skills makes you a less safe driver, with alcohol/playing with your phone at one end of the scale and things like changing a CD or talking to your passengers at the other. Being stoned is probably somewhere in between those 2 points depending on how stoned you are.

Sounds like they were concentrating too well 🙂

All those students taking it to revise and all the Drs prescribing the very similar ritalin for ADHD must be wasting their time

I’m not one to be able to recall or reference sources, but I remember seeing something years ago where some reasonably pukka science types had done some research and found that some people who habitually smoked drove better after a smoke – specifically, and perhaps unsurprisingly, calmer, smoother and slightly slower. IIRC they also found that, perhaps counter-intuitively, they also concentrated more effectively and consistently – iirc the hypothesis wasn’t that this bit was a direct effect, more indirect and conscious i.e. driver thinking “I’m a bit stoned, better really concentrate on what I’m doing here”

This was, however, before the “skunk explosion” – most of the weed kicking about these days is stronger / less balanced and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d get a different result testing with today’s stuff.

I have, a long time ago.
Been out biking, big climb, nice bifta in the sun, then hurtle down the other side. All good.
Driving home though, I had a green moment and had a complete “where the f***k am I and how did I get here” moment about 5 miles from home, just kept on driving until familiarity returned. 😯

The Nazis thought crystal meth was good for tank drivers though, so who knows about this and other stimulants.

It’s too good for them.

While we’re on the subject, and prompted by bigyinn, what do people think about smoking and mountain biking?

edlong – thats the conclusion from all the research I have seen until you get folk so stoned they can hardly walk.

Ain’t no ting…

Again, exactly what many folk did/do when they’ve been drinking alcohol.

Seems de rigueur to partake WHILST driving these days ….

Indeed. It’s surprising I don’t get high myself when cycling in London, given the sheer volume of cars that pass with “aromatic” fumes pouring out of the windows.

edlong – Member
While we’re on the subject, and prompted by bigyinn, what do people think about smoking and mountain biking?

I’ve never understood it, when I used to smoke all I wanted to do was find a comfy chair and some biscuits, not get all sweaty and jump over rocks and stuff, but despite that you can’t go on a ride in summer at any popular spot without passing someone having a little herbal pick-me-up trailside. That said I read that the truck drivers in South America who drive all those cliff side passes go through heroic amounts of hashish to calm their nerves, perhaps it stops ‘the fear’. Doesn’t seem to hold Ratboy back.

Given it’s incredibly unlikely they’d manage to crash into another rider because they’re off their nut I’d put it down as a victimless crime and let them decide for themselves.

edlong – Member
While we’re on the subject, and prompted by bigyinn, what do people think about smoking and mountain biking?

quite good fun! 🙂 as is working while bongo’d oot yer nut! 😆

P-Jay – Member
all I wanted to do was find a comfy chair and some biscuits, not get all sweaty and jump over rocks and stuff.

bill hicks gets it about right on this point! not that I can’t!

Two pages, still reasonable, humorous and nary a pointless graph in sight. I’m impressed. Well done all 🙂

Doesn’t seem to hold Ratboy back.

I know he has a reputation, but surely WC riders are subject to drug testing and he’s not tested positive?

Doesn’t seem like many folk have either done it or are admitting to it so I will.

In my youth I’d drive all the time stoned. Back then I would of said it actually made me a safer driver as I would be more cautious and drive a bit slower so as not to attract the attention of the police. You can become very focused on the driving itself especially with some good music on as well 😆

I wouldn’t do it now and I wouldn’t recommend or condone it. In fact I’m glad they can test for it now.

I did get pulled once while pretty baked and sitting in the back of the police car while they did name checks etc was the most terrifying experience of my life. I’m sure they knew (or was I just paranoid 🙂 ) but back then they had no way of testing so they just let me on my way.

Happily most of you know me and realise I’m naive, unworldly and not had higher education, therefore the answers funny or otherwise have put what I guessed was the case, into I now know it is the case.

Have a nice bank holiday weekend everyone.

Years ago a Dance/Rave culture magazine (MixMag I think it was) got a qualified driving instructor to assess drivers who were under the influence on a non-public area around cones/bollards.

From memory the results were fairly obvious:

Those having smoked weed/cannabis tended to be over cautious, drive too slow and make HUGE turns in between the cones.

Those having taken coke tended just to drive straight over the cones as if they weren’t there …

Conclusion was don’t do it …

(Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang) #WhiteLinesDontDoIt

I know he has a reputation, but surely WC riders are subject to drug testing and he’s not tested positive?

There was a landmark case at a Winter Olympics years ago, a snow boarder tested positive for Canabis and was suspended from the competition for a few days I think, finally it was agreed as it has no performance enhancing properties and the sports authorities (whoever they are) aren’t in the business of law enforcement he was allowed to continue – I seem to recall the boarder said it was second-hand smoke what caused it which made it a bit easier for everyone to turn a blind eye. I can’t remember who it was, Palmer maybe? Ha ha.

Not Palmer

Seems my memory was a bit hazy, but then those were my smoking years.

I can’t remember who it was

It was Ross Rebagliati – he now promotes and sells his own ‘Medical Cannabis’ as ‘Ross’ Gold brand’ …

edit – beat me to it P-Jay

survivor – Member
Doesn’t seem like many folk have either done it or are admitting to it so I will.

In my youth I’d drive all the time stoned. Back then I would of said it actually made me a safer driver as I would be more cautious and drive a bit slower so as not to attract the attention of the policeAnd I’ve done the same when riding a motorbike after I’d been drinking.

scotroutes – Member

edlong » “I’m a bit stoned, better really concentrate on what I’m doing here”

Again, exactly what many folk did/do when they’ve been drinking alcohol. [/quote]

the difference being it actually seems to work for pot smokers – not self reported but found by researchers

Yeah driving on Coke is mental, I hate myself but I did it once, but I was a right mess at that period in my life and it probably wasn’t the most stupid thing I did that week, even if it was the most anti-social. Basically everything felt like it was 5mph – it was a huge mental task to drive in the conscious part of my brain because the unconscious part thought I was driving too slowly and wanted to go faster, much faster to escape the feeling of frustration. The conscious part could read the speedo and follow the road. I went a mile or two, thought better of it and parked up and walk / skipped miles home.

I also drove hammered on booze once, had to be helped into the driving seat… but we were on a desert island and the truck would have been washed out to sea in moments – I drove because my slightly more sober mate had to shout directions hanging out out the passenger window, waves were breaking over the bonnet.

Survivor + 1.

Time has passed since then so I am older and wouldn’t do it now but I don’t think that it’s as straightforward as safe or not safe. It certainly made me concentrate more but whether or not that would compensate for decreased coordination and reaction times I don’t know. Like alcohol, the amount you have consumed makes a huge difference. A couple of tokes as it gets passed round is one thing, a massive hit from a bong is quite another. I know a few people that still smoke and drive and I do think they are deluding themselves sometimes.

For the record, I don’t smoke anymore. Not out of any ideological change but because I now have a young family and my priorities lie with them and find it a bit too easy to get carried away. As superhands says (admittedly about crack), it’s very more-ish.

tjagain “the difference being it actually seems to work for pot smokers – not self reported but found by researchers”

I find this very hard to believe and since you’ve mentioned this research several times, I’d love to read it – can you give me the details so that I can attempt to find it.

There was a landmark case at a Winter Olympics years ago, a snow boarder tested positive for Canabis and was suspended from the competition for a few days I think, finally it was agreed as it has no performance enhancing properties and the sports authorities (whoever they are) aren’t in the business of law enforcement he was allowed to continue – I seem to recall the boarder said it was second-hand smoke what caused it which made it a bit easier for everyone to turn a blind eye. I can’t remember who it was, Palmer maybe? Ha ha

Learn something new everyday…

For instance, Cannabinoids are prohibited in-competition only. This includes natural cannabinoids (e.g. cannabis, hashish and marijuana) and synthetic cannabinoids (e.g. THC and “Spice”).
It is important to know that traces of the consumption of cannabinoids out-of-competition can be potentially detected during an anti-doping control during an event.
That being said, a quantitative threshold applies to Carboxy-THC. The urinary threshold level for the cannabis metabolite Carboxy-THC is 150ng/mL.
Carboxy-THC, also known as 11-nor-9-Carboxy-THC, 11-nor-9-carboxy-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-nor- 9-carboxy-delta-9-THC, 11-COOH-THC, or THC-COOH, is the main secondary metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is formed in the body after cannabis is consumed.
In other words, presence of Carboxy-THC in a sample will not be reported as positive if the concentration is below 150 ng/ml. However, if it is 150 ng/ml or higher, a sample will be reported as positive (known as “Adverse Analytical Finding”) and anti-doping proceedings shall start.
Please note that use and possession of a substance prohibited in competition, such as cannabis, is prohibited during the competition. This also means that cannabis should not be carried to competition.

It is very important for a rider to recognize and understand that he/she is strictly responsible for what is found in his/her body. As such, understanding clearance times of substances is essential, especially if the substance is prohibited only in-competition as for cannabis. If a rider takes the said substance out-of- competition, and that substance is still present in his/her body when tested at a competition, he/she may face an Adverse Analytical Finding if it exceeds a concentration of 150 ng/ml3

http://www.uci.ch/mm/Document/News/News/17/90/02/AppendixUCIADProgram-InformationforRiders_Neutral.pdf

I hitched from Seville to Valencia which was quite a long way before the motorway. The first lift was going all the way, oh joy! It was a little hairy at first, as fast as the little hatch would go. Even more exciting as he skinned up. Job done he lit up and passed it too me, I shared the first one to be polite, powerful stuff. For the rest of the trip he smoked off and on, the journey becoming increasingly pleasant. As we approached Valencia the speed was down to that of the slowest trucks, no more risky overtaking, just bumbling along.

Gauss – linked to earlier – two reviews of the evidence

“Cannabis leads to a more cautious style of driving, [but] it has a negative impact on decision time and trajectory. [However,] this in itself does not mean that drivers under the influence of cannabis represent a traffic safety risk. … Cannabis alone, particularly in low doses, has little effect on the skills involved in automobile driving.”

REFERENCE: Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs. 2002. Cannabis: Summary Report: Our Position for a Canadian Public Policy. Ottawa. Chapter 8: Driving Under the Influence of Cannabis.

In conclusion, marijuana impairs driving behavior. However, this impairment is mitigated in that subjects under marijuana treatment appear to perceive that they are indeed impaired. Where they can compensate, they do, for example by not overtaking, by slowing down and by focusing their attention when they know a response will be required. … Effects on driving behavior are present up to an hour after smoking but do not continue for extended periods.

With respect to comparisons between alcohol and marijuana effects, these substances tend to differ in their effects. In contrast to the compensatory behavior exhibited by subjects under marijuana treatment, subjects who have received alcohol tend to drive in a more risky manner. Both substances impair performance; however, the more cautious behavior of subjects who have received marijuana decreases the impact of the drug on performance, whereas the opposite holds true for alcohol.”

REFERENCE: A. Smiley. 1999. Marijuana: On-Road and Driving-Simulator Studies. In: H. Kalant et al. (Eds) The Health Effects of Cannabis. Toronto: Center for Addiction and Mental Health. Pp. 173-191.

“Intoxication with cannabis leads to a slight impairment of psychomotor … function. … [However,] the impairment in driving skills does not appear to be severe, even immediately after taking cannabis, when subjects are tested in a driving simulator. This may be because people intoxicated by cannabis appear to compensate for their impairment by taking fewer risks and driving more slowly, whereas alcohol tends to encourage people to take great risks and drive more aggressively.”

REFERENCE: UK House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. 1998. Ninth Report. London: United Kingdom. Chapter 4: Section 4.7.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722956/

http://norml.org/library/item/marijuana-and-driving-a-review-of-the-scientific-evidence

I’m going to lay myself open for open forum crucifixion as i have/still do occasionally smoke weed n’ drive, on longish journeys of over 1hr.

Example : Next weekend i’ll be driving up to Aviemore (250+ miles) for a weeks holiday and as much riding as i can manage, weather permitting of course. Due to a 25yr old spinal injury i received at 19yrs old that is coming back to haunt me i’ll be partaking of perhaps 5 single skinned joints with a rather light sprinkling of a nice high cbd weed on the journey. The weed will knock out my bladder response totally so i’ll not have to stop every 30mins and have a piss and there’ll be no fear of my bladder leaking warm fragrant urine everywhere which is nice, if i’m sitting in one position for any length of time then my lumbar spine starts to ache, not just a small ache but the sort of ache that can find you biting down on your molars to such an extent that it’s all to easy to crack them, if my back starts to spasm then my muscles will start to tighten and if that spasm travels down my legs……then i’m pretty much **** – the easy answer to this is have a couple of tokes on a wee joint thus giving me instant relief and keeping my muscles supple on the journey which should be very pleasant as i’ve just fitted £300 of tweeters/speakers to my Caddy.

I suppose i could take an anti spasm medication such as Baclofen and opiod painkillers such as Tramadol but i don’t like the effects they leave behind and to be perfectly honest i never really take any prescribed medication as the entire opiod pain relief industry can be summed up as a bunch of state sponsored highly addictive drug pushing corporate **** that i will not entertain in the slightest.

I’d like to think i’m a good driver, never had an accident/bump/car park scrape/insurance claim in 27 years of driving, I’ve managed a sub 9min lap round the nurburgring in a mates car after a joint…or was it two?….i can never remember?, I was his co-driver for a few years including when he won his class in the RAC rally beating many factory teams whilst both of us enjoyed a joint and we enjoyed an immensely stoned and hugely pleasant Mille Migla jaunt in his 1936 MG TA a number of years ago.

I’ll be leaving Dumfries And Galloway next saturday morning in my caddy so watch out for PX63 * bimbling up the road to Aviemore as i try to keep my diesel consumption above the magic 60mpg 😉

* done

errmmm – id remove that license number if I were you

@tjagain, thanks I must have missed that before, I’ll take a closer look. From the snippets they seem to agree that intoxication by cannabis impairs driving, their conclusions appear vague

I am somewhat confused. Several people have stated on previous speed related threads that speed does not matter, it’s important how alert the driver is. Now people are suggesting it doesn’t matter if you are mentally impaired, if you are driving slowly. I’d feel happier if people drove slowly, whilst fully alert!