Does cannabis make a difference to your reaction time?

[MaliceNwunderland]

Thanks for that additional link, more proof..

More proof of what exactly? Only thing that study proves is that a lot of people have been conditioned to believe that marijauna is a "a dangerous drug" and they felt the need to drive differently "under the influence" of pot.

 

[Blowmonkey]

More proof of what exactly?

See thread title and reconsider what you said. It proves cannabis does make a difference in your reaction time, or does it not..?

 

[MaliceNwunderland]

It proves cannabis does make a difference in your reaction time, or does it not..?

Indeed it does. It does not however, prove either of the points being argued in this thread. First, these "differences" are never proven to be detrimental to the subject's driving ability. (The subjects were aware of these percieved "changes" and as a result drove slightly slower and didn't follow as closley. Generally "safer".) Second, it doesn't prove the idea that these differences in reaction times and driving styles are a direct result of being under the influence of THC. They even enertained the notion that many of these reaction time differences were the result of people already holding the belief that marijauna would impair thier driving ability and acting on this belief, drove differently then they usually do.

I know I am beating a dead horse, but I would like to see a study comparing reaction time differences between stoned folk and cell phone users, old people, or people who get out of bed and 2 min. later are driving down the freeway.
I don't believe being stoned whilst driving should be anymore illegal then any of those other things.

 

[PhireXZ]

Whatever. I drive better when im stoned, im not so anxious to have some weed. Im calmer and more willing to give way to people who are in a hurry, because im not. I drive safely, let people in, make sure to come to a compelte stop at stop signs, and most important, DONT SPEED because I dont want to get pulled over and have my vehicle search.

For some newbies who can't handle their dope, and new to driving, it might not be such a good idea. I have been smoking for 5 years, and driving for 3 (which may not sound like a lot, but I've done over 100,000k's I have to make country trips every week - stoned!) in that time and have had 1 minor accident my fault (pulling out a driveway into a dead end street, at night and the other car didnt have his lights on which is hard to prove once you've smashed them)

anyway to some it may hinder ,for me, the only negative effect it has in relation to driving is that I either forget where im going, take a wrong turn or just keep driving in the same direction until I go "Shit, I was meant to turn about 3 k's ago!"

(BTW..im aussie, sorry for the metric terms!)

 

[austior]

Well, normal driving is not a good measure of reaction time. Quick reactions are rarely needed. What's more important is paying attention and being careful.

I'd say reaction time translates into ability more surely in the game of table tennis. My personal experience is that pot makes me better at even this.(course I kick yo' ass on any drug at all, long as I'm not passed out...) Anyone interested in starting a ping-pong thread? We can post clips of stoned and non-stoned playing for everyone to compare!

Moving on, in my opinion pot does dull reaction time, but only minutely. It's other effects are more important and can hurt/help your driving/sports abilities depending on who you are.

 

[psychetool]

FUCK driving stoned on pot. Driving on ecstacy on the other hand..... :D

 

[Audiocide]

I have been driving high since the 60's and had two accidents, but funnily enough they happenbed on those rare occasions when I drove sober with friends.

One was me hitting a puddle waaay too fast (80+) trying to get my friend (who was bleeding profusely) back to my house for bandaging. We all needed some gentle handling after a rough spin and a good amount of the arborial brake system we have down here.

The second was an isse in which something the size of a small dog seemed to blow in front of me., I passed it off as cardboard or a paper sack but apparently it was rolling or had been tossed, and it turned out I hit a rolling rock doing 50 on county roads in the Mark Twain while hunting.

Scared shitless, vehicle totaled, not a scratch on anyone.

I think you first need to see how well you can focus while stoned. Know your limits and if you do drive, don't push it.

Otherwise I figure it's fine.

--mic