Too Stoned To Drive?
Dope is legal in Washington State. To find out when reefer madness turns into vehicular mayhem, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News passed out marijuana to volunteers and put them behind the wheel to see how they are doing.
Even at four times over the legal limit, the unscientifically picked lab rats drove O.K. After additional bongs, their driving suffered a bit.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Let's make no mistake. Marijuana is a DRUG. And quite a powerful one at that, and much more powerful than many people (if not most) give it credit for. If you really want to take your chances with an intoxicated state, 5000 lbs, and 120kmh, because you just can't bare to do it sober, then you're probably an idiot. But that is no excuse. Choosing NOT to drve high is the smart, proactive thing to do. An accident just might ruin weed for you—a fate worse than death!
I'm 21 and as a teenager I drove under the influence of pot countless times. Never directly afterward, but not too long after smoking on some occasions. I can remember a few errors, but at some points it was almost relaxing on back roads. In normal street traffic I found myself wanting to get out of the car and go eat Funyuns or something, it would become stressful and I'd stop. I have had friends who had some bad incidents though. Driving drunk or "buzzed" is something I did less often, but I found that to be entirely different. There have been some real close calls with that kinda shit, and after I got a DWI that cost me quite a bit, I learned my lesson. Its totally deplorable. Driving intoxicated really isn't worth it. Although I will say smoking pot won't put you in as much danger as driving shitface drunk, its still not a good idea unless you just have to drive a quick mile back to your house to raid the fridge.
"People on 'ludes should not drive"
Groovy. Now, let's run a similar test but as a contest between pot smokers and your usual assortment of prescription pill users thatnarebso prevalent in the left lanes of our highways.