Pilots and marijuana

having grown up with the pilots being stereotyped as drunken sex crazed pervs while flying the plane, having them toking up while off duty seems fine by me,

 

I was an air traffic controller in a former life. I can't say smoking and controlling go together. Liability comes to mind. If you have an accident even a minor one you will get drug tested. If you have a loss of lives then be prepared to serve time in prison and lose everything you own. You could do everything correct, you could save 1/2 the people on the plane but if you test positive then that's all they will see. Watch the Denzel Washington movie "Flight" and dream you would come out any better than he did.

I'm all for smoking pot but I waited until I didn't have other people's lives in my hands. People also dream they are not affected by pot after you are not high and that's not true with most people, especially high functioning people like pilots and controllers.

 

wafdof is right on the money. I personally would prefer my pilot (and air traffic controllers) not smoke. If there is an accident a drug test will be the first thing that happens (if you survive). You will end up in prison and likely the accident will be blamed on your drug use. Take a 30 day vacation every now and then and smoke the first week, but please don't take us into the sky when you smoked three days ago. Good luck on getting your commercial license. It's a trade off, but I would consider it a small sacrifice for a rewarding, responsible career.

 

Personally, I do not care what any person does while they are not at work doing their job, this goes for pilots, police, doctors doesn't matter. Although while I don't care , the above posters are probably correct in the event of a disaster, testing positive for cannabis as a pilot would probably not look great.

 

I take a couple tokes before I make my announcements....usually on the taxi way.

 

If he crashes the plane I doubt they will be able to take a sample off him lol

Sent from my SM-A300FU using Tapatalk

 

Ohh good a pilot that smokes. Might want to lawyer up now so you're ready. I fly regularly better not ever find out the pilot that is flying me and my kids is high. Pilots better be on top of their game. Until there's a way to tell exactly when your high, you're kind of screwed

 

Let's make sure to read op post carefully

He stated he smoked but would never fly high

 

The FAA drug tests randomly...Even if he wasn't flying it would only be a matter of time before he was fucked, and I mean really fucked, fucked in ways fuckin' unimaginable. That's workin' at Arby's for the rest of your life fucked, the kind of fucked you can't get out of...Just fucked.


But hey, your dice, chief.

 

i read it carefully, that's why I said until they can tell exactly when you're high. As of now dirty is dirty.

 

I like to think of pilots as purer than driven snow, 24/7. It helps me get in that damn plane.

 

Herein rests the real problem and quandary...a small amount of THC in the system may not be enough to be intoxicated under the law (see the standards in Colorado and other places) if you were driving. But...as a pilot, you KNOW that the intoxication standards are different, to include the fact that even consumption of alcohol in the eight hours before flying is not permitted and that being over .02 is enough to get the certificate yanked. I'm only flying general and usually am departing from towered space (Class C) but have never been ramp-checked, even for a check of books/certificate. I always remain prepared though simply because of the mission creep of the TSA...



That being said, sure there are pilots who drink, smoke or snort before a flight and may never be ramp-checked or even pop positive during a random administered by their employer (OP does not indicate if they were hoping to go commercial airliner or fly for one of the small private charter outfits which ALSO requires commercial certification)

 

To the FAA and his contract he would have with his company he is not suppose to smoke AT ALL. Part of being a big boy with a big boy job is called responsibility. In this case all that hard work to get into the left seat of an air carrier is paid EXTREMELY well but it comes with expectations. Go ahead and dream that pot does not slow you down AFTER you smoke and then try again. How much, well that varies but even a 10% loss in cognitive functions during critical phases of flight such as landing in high cross winds...then I want the pilot that DOES NOT SMOKE POT. Piloting a plane and controlling Air Traffic are very similar in the fact that you can not be reactionary but be ahead of the game. You start falling behind and you have to short cut it to catch back up.....you want a pilot not doing his prelanding checklist?? Or perhaps one that does his job correctly and timely??


Let me make this 100% clear once again. Have an accident and you get drug tested. This goes for controllers that WATCH an accident. Think about it, even one that was not even his fault they drug test them. The time to test is right after an accident THEN they gather the facts. If there is a loss of life then all protections from the union (ALPA-Air Line Pilot's Association) and the pilot's company is out the window. You will stand alone and go to jail and have heavy enough fines to lose everything you own.


Here is something else to be made perfectly clear. If you have an accident and it is not gross incompetence you will probably be taken care of as in keep your job but not as a pilot depending on what happened. You will have your company and Union behind you 110%, because guess what? Mistakes happen.


I can't for the life of me understand how anyone could spend $100K+ to get a pilot's license and risk smoking pot....everybody wants the big paying jobs but don;t want to wear the big boy pants and actually be responsible.

 

I could care less what type of job the OP would ever get as any charter would have PAYING customers too that expect their pilot to not do any drugs of any kind. Fact is nobody gets a commercial License and does not try to fly commercially. It is way too expensive to get "Just to have". He intends to smoke and fly passengers if he makes it that far and he is an idiot.


Take the "Not enough THC in their system to be intoxicated" argument off the table. The rules are the rules and no amount of sidestepping the reality will make it go away. Pilots and controllers are paid well for a reason, part of that is responsibility to the flying public to report to work ready to go and within federal guidelines.


If you have an accident and haven't smoked in a long time but test positive it is the same as if you were high during the flight to the press, judge and jury. If people will take anything from this discussion I hope they understand that NOBODY cares if the pilot hasn't smoked in 45 days, he is GUILTY of betraying the public's trust by not following the rules.


How do you see a person being paid $250K a year but wants to break the rules at the same time? I think most people would find that INSULTING on so many levels. Part of that pay is DIRECTLY related to the sacrifices and EXPECTATIONS placed on that job.

 

certain jobs require certain sacrifices. Its just weed anyways this holy status everyone puts on it is ridiculous. Unless you're using it for medical, you're just using it for a good time. A good time you knowingly agreed to give up on when you decided to be a pilot. If you can't give that up for a great jobjob you decided on, you may have an issue with cannabis that needs further help.

 

There are not that many pilots out there making a quarter-mil per year...all one needs to do in order to debunk a claim that they are all making bank is look at depositions that followed one of the many Colgan incidents. Lots of hours and not a lot of money.
My reference to levels was precisely because ANYONE who has a certificate KNOWS the rules are different for pilots than drivers. If you have consumed alcohol of ANY AMOUNT in the eight hours prior to taking the seat, you CANNOT fly under FAA standards. Ditto if you are over a .02 BAC. Never mind that those standards do not apply to drivers...


I cannot speak to what it costs to get a commercial ticket...I know that a basic certification with the additional IFR and multi-engine certification can be done for under $20K in Class C space. I got into it primarily for fun and to fly to college sporting events...that it comes in handy for employment to see clients is an added bonus.


Some of us DO have the funds to go out and just do things for no other reason than we felt like it...and not everyone looking to fly commercially is expecting to fly for an airline. I know people who may go up in the air less than once a week in some weeks with only a couple of people in a Gulfstream or Citation yet they are STILL commercial pilots. For that matter, if they are in a position to charge to carry someone in a Cirrus then they are STILL commercial...


Does it make sense to smoke before flying? No. And nothing in my post suggested that it did. OP simply needs to be aware that decisions have consequences...and a lower threshold often means higher consequences when that threshold is crossed.

 

I won't continue this banter as it is would be disrespectful to you and while I do think you have some valid points, I don't agree with many of the others. I have literally been in contact with hundreds of pilots. My work in the National Airspace system is extensive, I can't think of anything that has come around in the past 10 years I have not worked on starting with RSVM, Electronic strips (Both of them URET and EDST), free flight, NRP, ADSB, Drones, ERAM, Data link and the list goes on. I have also flown in the cockpit with hundreds of pilots during commercial flights.


The OP has not returned and I hope it is a sign that they have seen the light and have moved on, let us do the same. You and I have different views and neither are 100% correct.

 

It all depends on how naturally stick and rudder skills come to you...I myself spent a decent part of last summer smoking mad herb, and flying a '46 Piper Cub low over the lake with the door down, and shooting short field landings on a grass strip....some of the best flying I've done in years....after smoking a gram to my face not 20 minutes before