Politifact does a good job knocking down what has become Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske’s most elaborate attempt at drug war propaganda so far. But even so, I think they’ve undersold their argument:
To offer a more concrete example, it’s unclear how much impact a joint of marijuana inhaled two weeks ago may have on a driver today. It could well be that the two-week-old joint is less of an impairment than a legal level of alcohol in the blood — even though the study would count the marijuana user as part of that 16 percent “under the influence of drugs” yet exclude someone with .07 percent alcohol from the 2.2 percent of alcohol-impaired drivers.
A joint that you smoked two weeks ago impairs your driving ability less than the following things:
– Clouds being in the sky
– The radio station playing a crappy song
– A pimple on your ass
– Your lingering suspicions that Rob McKenna really doesn’t have a law degree
– Trying to remember when you last cleaned your cat’s litter box
– The lame sunglasses that you’re afraid to wear in public, but still keep in your car
– Laughing at someone with a Sarah Palin bumper sticker
Yet our Drug Czar continues to count people who simply test positive for marijuana in their system as ‘impaired drivers’. It’s not just a lie, it’s a huge lie, and one that he should be ashamed of saying in front of the mirror at his house, let alone to the country.
[via Pete]
i actually saw a mckenna bumper sticker the other day. el es en fuego.
@1
I’ll laugh when I see a McKenna 2012 one.
i think it was a new mckenna sticker though the car went by fairly quickly. looked red and blue and just said his name i think.
Meth makes you so much more productive than weed. And it’ll sober you up if you need to drive drunk. I say give us all freedom of (drug of) choice.
@4
Meth makes you so much more productive than weed.
That’s why they’ve given it to military personnel for decades (although what gets sold on the street today as meth is way more pure and addictive).
Last the pupster read we all test positive for Teflon. Wonder how that makes us act?
Never, ever downplay an ass pimple. Buttscratching takes a hand off the wheel and if on the phone two hands.
So, why not sue the feds under the Xth amendment. The MJ laws comprise restraint of trade?
@7
Never, ever downplay an ass pimple.
Hey, it kept Rush Limbaugh out of Vietnam.
Gil, in front of the mirror, wearing the sunglasses of shame.
Meth is basically a poison that is known to destroy brain cells and permanently rewire your brain to keep you craving more. It is highly addictive, with one of the worst experiences when you come down. You think you know what being depressed is like, just try coming down from being high on speed a few days. We’re talking suicidal depression. While in short term it might make you “more productive” the damage it does both physically and psychologically far outweigh any small gain you might perceive in the short term.
The sad fact is that many of these way more dangerous drugs leave your system relatively quickly, at least as far as drug tests go. This encourages some people to pick the more dangerous drug because it will be easier to pass a random drug test in a few days.
The side effect that THC metabolites (not the actual drug that makes you high, mind you) stay in your system for days or weeks is being used by drug companies, who make huge profits, and authoritarians to control people. It is harassment plain and simple. They need to device a simple test, similar to the breathalyzer, that measures impairment with cannabis. These urine tests are pure bullshit. Everyone knows it.
What they really hate is the fact that cannabis makes you less receptive to their BS. In a very real respect it does make you more passive, because you see the utter hypocrisy and negativity of violence and other things agencies like the military want you to do.