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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1. An Overview of
The First Time
Because our Puritan-based society has traditionally been uneasy
Addiction and
At the same time, marijuana is an attractive activity for
Strategies of Smokers
There are some smokers who are convinced that "good
Stopping
Notes
14. Looking Ahead:
Smokers of this persuasion speak of marijuana being grown by
In the event of legalization, it is unlikely that names will
The Moment of Awareness
Appendix
On the other hand, I very often have magnificent creative
2. A Denver high school
I don't know if you're interested, but the reason I started
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Driving
Marijuana
smokers are divided as to whether they should drive when high, and marijuana
researchers are divided as to whether doing so is dangerous. Long-distance
driving is popular with many smokers, especially if the car is equipped with a
good sound system. Many smokers report that although they are capable of
driving well when they are high, they prefer not to, because they have to
concentrate so hard on the driving that all the enjoyable parts of the high are
used up.
Is it safe to drive under the influence of marijuana? There is no
clear answer; it depends most of all on the driver's past experiences with
smoking and with driving. On the surface, the issue seems clear: normal use of
marijuana can produce distortions in perception and impairment of cognitive
functions and short-term memory. But the real answer seems to depend more on
the user than on the drug. An important experiment was conducted several years
ago by Alfred Crancer, chief of research at the Department of Motor Vehicles
for the State of Washington. Crancer's research team used a series of
driving simulator tests, having previously shown that the simulator provided an
accurate assessment of a driver's performance and ability. The team
demonstrated that there was no significant difference in driving performance
between subjects who had smoked marijuana and those who had not. A parallel
test with the same group of subjects indicated that six ounces of whiskey led
to considerable driving difficulties.
But there is a catch: all of the subjects recruited for the study
were experienced marijuana smokers, and it is well known that smokers generally
teach themselves to compensate for being high while they are driving. With
alcohol, only a certain amount of compensation is possible, but since marijuana
has no significant action on the lower brain centers, with practice a marijuana
user's degree of compensation can reach 100 percent.
A more recent study by Harry Klonoff concludes that smoking
marijuana has a detrimental effect on driving skills and performance in a
restricted driving area, and a more serious detrimental effect on regular city
streets. At the same time, some of the subjects in Klonoff's study actually improved
their driving performance while on marijuana.
So long as the issue is further clouded by the tendency of some
smokers (generally men) to brag about their ability to drive well on marijuana,
it will remain unresolved. To hear some smokers tell it, marijuana usually
improves driving ability. While this may happen on occasion, it is still the
exception, not the rule.
A potentially beneficial result of marijuana on driving is its
tendency to relax the driver. Murray tells of having to
navigate through the streets of Boston under difficult
circumstances:
When
I lit up a joint, there was no sign of snow, but suddenly it started coming
down very heavily, and I had to go out. At first I thought of not going, but I
decided to give it a try. I was nervous but I soon concentrated on driving, and
decided to go with my stoned energy, rather than trying to fight it. I don't
know if I actually drove better, although it certainly felt that way. I do know
that I drove in a more relaxed way, without lessening my hard concentration on
the difficult drive. It was an odd combination for me, this sense of relaxed
concentration, and it helped me be confident that I would do all right. In
fact, the drive went smoothly; I drove slowly and well, and I got there without
any problem.
Stoned drivers have a tendency to drive slowly and cautiously to
compensate for their condition, and there is a joke from the 1960s that the
easiest way for the police to arrest all the marijuana smokers at once is to
round up everybody under thirty driving fifty miles per hour or under in the
right-hand lane of the highway on a Saturday night.
Smokers who enjoy driving stoned point out that it provides
constant visual excitement: roadside scenes become interesting, and traffic
lights on a rainy evening are positively glowing with color. On the other hand,
there are smokers who worry about getting lost or having an accident:
I
don't like to drive when I'm stoned, because I become too careful, stopping at
every corner and looking at signs until my neck muscles hurt. When I'm stoned,
I can't drive and navigate at the same time, and if I'm alone in the car, it
can be difficult.
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