• 🇳🇿 🇲🇲 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇦🇺 🇦🇶 🇮🇳
    Australian & Asian
    Drug Discussion

    Welcome Guest!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
  • AADD Moderators: Tronica

NZ NEWS : 22.9.09 - Cannabis 'improves' driving, some users say

kingpin007

kingpin007

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
1,888
Location
(Acacia unit ) Barwon Prison riding my excercise b
Cannabis 'improves' driving, some users say

22/09/2009

Two thirds of cannabis users say the drug does not affect their driving ability, while 16 percent say it improves it, according to a new survey.

Almost 1200 people responded to an online Drug Foundation survey ahead of the introduction of new drug-driving tests set to be enforced by police from December.

Almost 80 percent of those who had driven while under the influence of cannabis felt their driving was not changed or was better.

New Zealanders' were assessed on their knowledge, attitudes and behaviours around driving under the influence of psychoactive substances, including illicit drugs, prescription medicines and alcohol, for both users and non-users and drug drivers and non-drug drivers.

Out of the 1164 people surveyed, 1124 were drivers, 36.4 percent were cannabis users and 7.7 percent were methamphetamine users.

Nearly a quarter, 23.6 percent, of drinkers surveyed reported driving under the influence in the past year.

Driving under the influence of multiple substances was the most dangerous driving behaviour in terms of impairment, yet 11.6 percent of respondents reported doing so in the past year.

More than two thirds (70.5 percent) "totally agreed" or "somewhat agreed" that random roadside drug testing would improve road safety in New Zealand.

A long-term study was being carried out by Environmental Science and Research to analyse blood samples from most driver deaths in New Zealand.

Preliminary results showed 40 percent of drivers killed between 2004 and 2006 had used alcohol, cannabis or both before their death.

Thirty percent of drivers who used cannabis and died in a motor vehicle accident were likely to have smoked within three hours of driving.

But the number of people convicted of drug-driving was low, as there was no technology to detect drug users quickly .

Provisional police data showed 69 people were charged with driving under the influence of a drug last year, compared with 60 in 2006 and 84 in 2007.

Only one person was charged with causing death while under the influence of a drug.
Click to expand...

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/2891468/Cannabis-improves-driving-some-users-say
 
i dunno tho cz my mate, who has been smoking for years (and i think this only applys for reg smokers) actually drives better when hes stoned, than wen he hasnt had a joint

not sure if hed be better if he didnt smoke at all....

anyone think this? or otherwise?
 
I don't think it improves it but it really doesn't impair it nearly as much as some would have you believe.

I have done this many times when I was dependant on weed and stupidly even a few times since keeping my use irregular. I really feel like it doesn't hinder me at all, if anything it makes me less likely to engage in some slightly unsafe driving practises I often do whilst sober like speeding.
 
its cos most people driving around with weed on em will obey the traffic laws more ;) none of that speeding shit, i dont want my bag of weed taken away :(

or they just hell stoned and drive slow therefore preventing serious crashes
 
i drive really slow. start breaking heaps far away from the red light, turn into corners real slow. thats good when no one else is on the road. when its busy as all hell, fuck me, i'm white knuckle grippin the wheel shittin myself, so i avoid drivin stoned. plus, it ruins the high for me. a bit of stress takes away what i'm chasin
drugs have a time and place. not where other people have a chance of getting fucked up by my altered state of mind.


ps. congrats on mod status drug mentor
 
I wouldn't say it improves it.
Not for me, but it doesn't really alter it that much either.

If your more used to being stoned than sober, then sober will be more impaired than stoned.
 
there are certain phases with being stoned that definitely make me more aware of the road, conditions, other cars, speed etc (the hyper focus stage) yet there are other phases where these senses are somewhat dulled (the stoned mullet stage)
 
I drive better when stoned. I pay more attention, everything is slowed down for me. I do forget where the hell I am and drive around in loops sometimes though...
 
Depending on how high i am I guess I can usually say I drive better. Driving downtown savannah baked taking a left turn on a one way road off of bay street.......bad idea lol. But generally I think I drive safer/more alert when high.
 
I drive way better after a couple of joints or a cheeky cone. I become super focussed, and enjoy driving with the window down, cruising, but fully aware of everything, like my senses are heightened. Though if im super whacked, I shouldnt drive, I forget where im going and drive in circles and get paranoid about cops, oh, and it feels like im on a sweet rollercoaster which is a tad distracting haha
 
"I think I drive better when I'm stoned" is the same as saying "I feel like I'm 6ft6in and built like a brick shit house after a line of coke"... You don't...

I hate driving ripped, sure I'm probably a safer driver because I don't take stupid risks and speed everywhere but my reaction times are way slowed and i get white line fever going just staring straight ahead and not paying attention to anything else and then there's missing turns or taking the wrong ones on roads you drive everyday, I could get lost on my own driveway...

Think about missing streets because you're too busy zoning out looking straight ahead then swap that street for a kid chasing a ball onto the road add slowed reaction times to the mix and you're just asking for trouble...
 
Kids chasing balls onto the road is a straw man argument. This scenario never really happens. Reaction times don't matter when other drivers or pedestrians put themselves in the way of your vehicle through no fault of your own. The results are more chance and the movements of the person violating the space of your car's trajectory than anything happening behind your car's wheel.

Reaction times matter when YOU are crossing over the lane marker or whatever. That's something I think that being stoned helps protect me against - I'm less likely to space out in thought or conversation when stoned, so less likely to randomly swerve out of my lane.
 
Coolio said:
Kids chasing balls onto the road is a straw man argument. This scenario never really happens. Reaction times don't matter when other drivers or pedestrians put themselves in the way of your vehicle through no fault of your own. The results are more chance and the movements of the person violating the space of your car's trajectory than anything happening behind your car's wheel.

Reaction times matter when YOU are crossing over the lane marker or whatever. That's something I think that being stoned helps protect me against - I'm less likely to space out in thought or conversation when stoned, so less likely to randomly swerve out of my lane.
Click to expand...

I'm trying to decide if this post is taking the piss or you're just trolling. To imply reaction times don't have a significant effect on the outcome of an unexpected incident is laughable. If you're faculties are affected then you're less likely to react in a suitable and timely manner. I've personally had people step out in front of my car on more than one occasion and if I was under the influence I have no doubt I would have struck them. In addition to this, the point Smoifer raised in regards to 'white line fever' is particularly relevant. Driving isn't just about driving straight on the road, rather, it's about being aware of your entire surroundings including other cars and pedestrians.
 
i go rock climbing stoned heaps. i guess thats why i dont feel as bad driving high, because i put my life and my partner's life on the line all the time whilst high, and only ours.

that being said however i have also driven and climbed drunk. this is most certainly, definitely, a really really shithouse idea.

i always tell ppl who live in rural areas etc, if your mates are going to drive home drunk, and you're just stoned: stoner should take the wheel. every time.
 
I had a serious accident driving whilst stoned.

I stopped at a red light, vagued out listening to the radio, and then just started driving before the light had turned green. I ran the red light (after having stopped at it) and a car hit me.

Both cars were written off. Thankfully I was alone, since if anyone had been sitting in the passenger seat of my car they would definitely have died since the entire car was caved in at that corner.

It is just not okay to drive whilst stoned. I had to have a stupid accident to realise that. Being stoned changes your perception of things, puts your attention in weird places, makes you vague out at random things, and slows down your reaction times. The idea that reaction times are not important in any driving situation is retarded.
 
"Im a good driver when im drunk"
"I can type an SMS or talk on the phone and drive safely"
"Being stoned improves my driving"

Yeah what ever. You keep telling yourself that and hey, you wont feel bad when you kill a few kids.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top