Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC) Copyright: 2010 Surrey Leader Contact: http://www.surreyleader.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1236 Author: Russell Barth Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n394/a08.html DRIVING STONED IS NOT LIKE BEING DRUNK Re: "Driving-while-stoned suspension unfair: Lawsuit," The Leader, May 28 The thing about this egregious law is that anyone who caught a whiff of second hand pot smoke three weeks or even two months ago could still show "positive" on a police test, just as poppy-seed bagel enthusiasts often test positive for opiates. Imagine getting popped for drunk driving five days after a sip of beer, and you see the kind of legal "stacked deck" that Canadian pot users are up against. The public has been bamboozled on an epic scale once again by cops and lobbyists who are just looking to hand out more tickets. Example: Police insist that marijuana is a major danger to road safety. There is no science to support this assertion, as no study has ever actually been done in Canada. The studies that have been done on the subject of marijuana and driving in other countries show that pot users drive slower and more cautiously than non-users. Other studies show that chronic daily users notice far less "impairment" than a weekend toker does. Now lets look at the numbers: Canadians smoke more pot per capita than any other country in the world, we smoke the most potent pot in the world, we admit to "toking and driving" more than any other country in the world, and our population has been growing steadily for decades. Yet, the per capita number of car crashes continues to drop, which might suggest that pot use is actually making Canadian roads safer. What a scam. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User, Drug Reform Analyst and Consultant, Educators for Sensible Drug Policy - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D