From Stoned to Medicated Driving

On the last post Stoned Driving: degree and experience. I dug into my early memories of driving under #MJ from the 60s and 70s when I was still at UM. Except for my X-country excursions and a few road trips trips, I have not driven under the influence of herb in many years.

Since I still live in a non-legal state my current practice is to never use cannabis in my car in any form. At this point I work from home thus have no commuting trips, hence no temptation to indulge after work on my homebound trip.

That said, current new #MMJ patients have more complex issues than I to deal with, so I’ve put my thinking cap on to help them develop some guidelines to keep them out of trouble with the law

NIH notes several important facts

• Impairment via Cannabis is a function of dose.
• Experienced Cannabis users learn to compensate for the impairment
• Alcohol greatly increases accident risk when mixed with Cannabis.
• Stoned drivers tend to be cautious and often drive slower (my addition).
• Alcohol type breathalyzers wont reveal anything useful.
  

  My Guidelines

  1. Use the “2 hr. rule” i.e wait 2 hr. after medicating before driving
  2. NEVER mix Cannabis with Alcohol before driving.
  3. Since you may think you are more impaired that you are, remain calm and focus only on the road.
  4. Keep any Cannabis supplies out of site to avoid a “probable cause” search.
  5. If possible add CBD to your Cannabis dose to help reduce impairment.
  6. If you get “red eyes”, remember to keep some viscine handy.
  7. If traffic stopped, be extra polite to the police.
  8. For smoker’s “weed breath” some breath mints make sense.

  These guidelines only apply to patients who need to drive occasionally after medicating. If you are a recreational user in a party mode, order a Uber of Lyft ride share. It’s a very cheap insurance policy for party folks!