Silk Road forums

Discussion => Drug safety => Topic started by: connoisseur on January 05, 2013, 04:02 pm

Title: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: connoisseur on January 05, 2013, 04:02 pm
  Drug-drivers face more rigorous tests after a kit for detecting cannabis was approved for use in police stations across the UK, the Home Office said.
   A positive saliva test with the new device means officers will no longer have to call a doctor before asking for a blood sample if they suspect a driver of being on drugs.
The testing kit is able to detect tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in cannabis; equipment capable of accurately identifying other substances is still under development.
In 2011 a total of 644 accidents, including 49 deaths, were caused by drug-drivers (using both  illegal and medicinal substances), according to the Department for Transport.
A survey by the RAC showed that the number of 17- to 24-year-olds driving after taking drugs increased from five per cent to nine per cent in the 12 months to May 2012. Motorists can already be punished for driving while impaired by drugs, but the new testing equipment will make it easier for the police to prove a case, the Home Office said.
Offenders will face up to six months in jail and a fine of up to £5,000, as well as an automatic driving ban of at least 12 months.
The new device is made by Draeger, a Hemel Hempstead firm.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cannabis-tester-to-catch-drugdrivers-8439093.html

typical MSM report. So how many of these fatal accidents involved cannabis? My guess is none unless you count polytoxic behaviour.

 
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: slip on January 05, 2013, 04:18 pm
Wiv my contacts in the US the five-0 would not dare to pull this shit on me!
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: trava on January 05, 2013, 05:12 pm
thc can be stored in the blood stream for up 30 days

good luck proving u were driving under the influence at the time u are tested
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: SourAss on January 05, 2013, 05:36 pm
In the UK, the Queen is the head of the church (founded on the family values of Henry VIII), head of the state, and the Armed forces ...... what a system, this doesn't surprise me at all !!!
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: LEFTY on January 06, 2013, 10:30 am
thc can be stored in the blood stream for up 30 days

good luck proving u were driving under the influence at the time u are tested

Yes this ^ what is considered an acceptable level of THC if they smoked the other day/week/month?
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: connoisseur on January 06, 2013, 01:03 pm
thc can be stored in the blood stream for up 30 days

good luck proving u were driving under the influence at the time u are tested

THC can be detected 24-72 hrs in blood but up to six weeks in urine!
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: Jopular on January 06, 2013, 01:36 pm
This is scary!
I always drive stoned out my tiny little mind!  It stops that road rage which plagues me when I drive straight headed.
Without a joint in my hand and a smile in my heart I am a cold blood thirsty killer. Unless I'm stoned will use my 1.5 tons of petrol power as a weapon against all those fools who try to stop me from driving fast.

When I am stoned, it's different. I will look out for forthcoming hazards and I feel empathy for all the other people out there. I really do en devour to drive safely and conscientiously.
When stoned I do not care how long the journey takes me as long as I get to my destination in one piece without harming any one else.

ETA:
Can we not just refuse the test, as far as I am aware there is no proscribed legal limit for cannabinoids (not just the THC which gets you high).
It is not illegal to drive with alcohol (below the limit) or drugs in your system as long as they do not adversely affect your driving.
Title: Re: UK applies new Cannabis tester on suspicious drivers
Post by: Ben on January 07, 2013, 02:32 am
Well, that is going to be up to the courts, appeals, and endless process.

Driving under the influence of a drug may be illegal when it impairs you to a defined degree. For alcohol strict limits have been established and technology to measure that reliably has been developed. Basically a breathalyzer can determine not only that you have been drinking alcohol but also if you have an amount in your system that is expected to impair your ability to drive.

In case of cannabis it must be established:

- what level of active substance impairs you
- how this is to be measured reliably
- how accurate the used measurement system actually is

If i shared a joint and had a puff or two 3 days ago, its hardly reasonable to argue that that would impair my driving skills today, unless there is scientific evidence to back that up (i.e. have groups of people take a puff, give them a driving test 3 days later, and demonstrate they drive as badly as people that just had a pint do).

Mostly it is the dose that makes the poison. With all drugs, alcohol, cannabis, bezno's opiates and what not, it must first be established which concentration actually impairs your ability to drive. Simple demonstrating presence will not suffice. In the netherlands there are some experiments to drug test drivers too, but afaik there have not been any convictions for anything else than alcohol so far.

A standard needs to be established first. You can drive a car after having one pint, but not two pints of beer. I suppose something similar would have to be formulated for other drugs - smoking 0.2 grams of 15% thc pot is okay, smoking 0.3g is not. Or taking 10 mg valium is okay, but 20 mg is not. And then there is the combined effect of drugs to look at too.

Realistically, i don't expect this to result in anything. There are plenty of perfectly nice, hardworking, valuable people in society that are constantly driving under the influence of benzodiazepines. This will not affect them very much due to tolerance effects, even if the same dose would impair some inexperienced person do drive into poles and curbs at the exact same dose.