If and when states legalize MJ, will there be a greater risk for safety on our road ways? Please give insight and opinions on your thoughts. I know the states will make money from the legalization, however, how much will the state have to pay to enforce driver safety laws? Would it be similar to alcohol? In the bigger picture, what would be the societal costs? I know many people will be responsible with MJ, adults 21 and over, however, there will still be the non-responsible smokers, or people that simply can not handle smoking and driving at the same time...all it takes is one impaired driver and some random innocent human could be killed...thanks for the opinions.
not to be insensitive but people die in cars regardless of if they are sober or not. If our state and local governments cared about dangerous intoxicated drivers, alcohol would not be legal also considering alcohol impairs driving much more than weed. I know a lot of people you are high/use marijuana while driving and there are no problems. I also know people who have been drunk while driving and there have been sketchy events. to people who can't handle it they should be willing to take personal responsibility for their own safety and the safety of others. if I was driving high and say I got dizzy from something like low blood sugar I would get off the road asap. its common sense in less you are trying to get yourself killed.
Good reply, however, there are some really stupid individuals out there, specially kids that would not do what you would do...
I believe the sad fact of the truth is this is more of a political thing then safety. Politicians will look at anything remotely close to dangerous, blow it completely out of proportion and come out the savior of the world for doing something about it regardless of the effects. I personally drive better high and this is with a stick shift where it's not just gas and brake. I notice my shifts, while 80% of the time are smooth and perfect while sober, become close to 100% perfect every time. It's just my awareness and perception skyrocket to super human levels. It doesn't even matter if I didn't smoke for months, take a whole blunt and got right behind the wheel. The only concern in my head about being high the entire time is "do my eyes look red and do I smell?" Now on the other side of the fence, there's people who should NEVER smoke and drive. IMO though these tend to be the same people who shouldn't even have a drivers license. I take driving very seriously cause it is fact, driving is a very serious action that can get you and others killed even in low speeds. Most people just take the fact that moving along in a 3000-6000 pound hunk of metal at 20-80mph is nothing. It's not nothing, it's an extremely powerful force that is to be respected. That respect is lost to most people and thus they fiddle and do not care to be as aware as they should be. The sad thing is there's a massive double standard. There's been numerous tests done showing that driving while on the phone has the same effects as driving drunk. This becomes far worse as you get into texts. Yet it's nothing more then a simple infraction that some states may give you 2 points now. But driving drunk/high will give you a DUI which suspends your license for a year, massive fines, some require AA or similar meetings, insurance skyrockets. Take it a step further, some states BY LAW allow officers on or off duty to use their cell phones while driving. Yes that is right, something found to be as dangerous to more dangerous to a DUI is legally ALLOWED for cops to do. Welcome to the United Fascists States of Amerika