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Bridgeburner
Not spiritual at all.




Registered: 09/16/06
Posts: 20,010
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Safe cannabis levels defined for driving
#7685146 - 11/27/07 09:24 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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http://www.6minutes.com.au/articles/z1/view.asp?id=137358
Drink-drivers know they’re in trouble if their blood alcohol tops 0.05. This week, researchers suggest an equivalent limit for cannabis.
A panel of experts from Australia and elsewhere considered the epidemiological evidence regarding cannabis use and driving, with an eye to developing a legal limit for safe motoring.
“Limited epidemiological studies indicate that serum concentrations of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) below 10 ng/mL are not associated with an elevated accident risk,” they report in Addiction.
Comparing meta-analyses of experimental studies, they also found that a THC concentration in the serum of 7-10 ng/mL causes the same level of impairment as a blood alcohol level of 0.05%.
A blood cannabis limit of that level “offers reasonably reliable separation of drivers whose driving is in fact impaired by cannabis from those who are not impaired,” the authors suggest.
But under Australian laws, such limits are irrelevant. Current roadside drug testing in Victoria and elsewhere, takes a zero-tolerance approach. Any driver found with detectable cannabis markers in his or her saliva has committed an offence.
Drug researcher Wayne Hall worries that those policies are a threaten to civil liberties. “Should the authorities have the power to force citizens to incriminate themselves when they have not committed a driving offence or been involved in an accident?” he writes in an editorial.
He says there is no evidence thee laws save lives, and that the success of roadside drug testing needs to be evaluated.
“If evidence of an impact on drug driving is forthcoming, citizens should have the right to debate whether these public health benefits offset the threats to democratic freedoms.”
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mr_minds_eye
Disposable Wage Whore

Registered: 01/22/02
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Loc: Samsara
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Re: Safe cannabis levels defined for driving [Re: Bridgeburner]
#7685447 - 11/27/07 10:46 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Does anyone have any idea how much herb creates a concentration of 7-10 ng/mL? I took a quick glance at Erowid yielded no real life equivalent. I'm just curious where they set the bar.
-------------------- Our quest for discovery fuels our creativity in all fields, not just science. If we reached the end of the line, the human spirit would shrivel and die. But I don't think we will ever stand still: we shall increase in complexity, if not in depth, and shall always be the center on an expanding horizon of possibilities. -Stephen Hawking
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
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Re: Safe cannabis levels defined for driving [Re: mr_minds_eye]
#7685517 - 11/27/07 11:11 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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From the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration...
http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/job185drugs/cannabis.htm:
Quote:
It is difficult to establish a relationship between a person's THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects. Concentrations of parent drug and metabolite are very dependent on pattern of use as well as dose. THC concentrations typically peak during the act of smoking, while peak 11-OH THC concentrations occur approximately 9-23 minutes after the start of smoking. Concentrations of both analytes decline rapidly and are often < 5 ng/mL at 3 hours. Significant THC concentrations (7 to 18 ng/mL) are noted following even a single puff or hit of a marijuana cigarette. Peak plasma THC concentrations ranged from 46-188 ng/mL in 6 subjects after they smoked 8.8 mg THC over 10 minutes. Chronic users can have mean plasma levels of THC-COOH of 45 ng/mL, 12 hours after use; corresponding THC levels are, however, less than 1 ng/mL. Following oral administration, THC concentrations peak at 1-3 hours and are lower than after smoking. Dronabinol and THC-COOH are present in equal concentrations in plasma and concentrations peak at approximately 2-4 hours after dosing.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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trippindad82
Trusted Cultivator of Trich



Registered: 01/07/07
Posts: 1,087
Loc: down, down the hole
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Re: Safe cannabis levels defined for drivinghttp://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm [Re: Seuss]
#7687409 - 11/27/07 06:04 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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This is such a crock of shit. People like me have an average amount higher than that level in their bodies all day and I don't feel that it impedes me. In fact, I feel the opposite, I have an overactive mind, and pot slows me down and makes me feel normal. Helps me to operate better in a single task environment when my mind normally likes to have a number of things going on. BULLSHIT.
-------------------- Trying to explain a journey to someone who has never experienced it is like trying to explain what a zebra looks like to blind person who has never seen a horse. ^^^The above matter may be a complete fantasy that I concocted out of possible boredom.^^^ --------------------------------------
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outhere4
Anomaly


Registered: 08/07/07
Posts: 457
Last seen: 14 years, 5 months
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Re: Safe cannabis levels defined for drivinghttp://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm [Re: trippindad82]
#7687602 - 11/27/07 06:43 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
trippindad82 said: This is such a crock of shit. People like me have an average amount higher than that level in their bodies all day and I don't feel that it impedes me. In fact, I feel the opposite, I have an overactive mind, and pot slows me down and makes me feel normal. Helps me to operate better in a single task environment when my mind normally likes to have a number of things going on. BULLSHIT.
I am the sameway, I smoke daily and yet am still hyper. Oh the things we can accomplish when we put our minds to it, and I actually notice a 2-3x processing increase by my brain when I lay off the herb. I love doja, it mellows me out.
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AnotherDimension
Wanderer in the Land of the Lost

Registered: 06/14/04
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Re: Safe cannabis levels defined for drivinghttp://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm [Re: trippindad82]
#7687709 - 11/27/07 07:14 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Okay, but the same can be said for alcohol. There is no way that .007 BAC (or whatever it is) affects everyone the same. Lots of hard core drinkers probably don't even feel that, but a first time drinker could be floored by it.
Arbitrary limits set by a governing body are not going to make sense when they are applied universally.
However, treating weed like alcohol is a lot better than it is currently being treated in some countries.
-------------------- Another Dimension --------------------------- "Come, and trip it as ye go, On the light fantastick toe."
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