# Colorado legalized it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185 "2012-11-07T06:42:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/101 "2012-11-10T12:49:55Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Caffeine is a mind altering drug. Not so according to many doctors, but many benefits. It can work on the nervous system in some people and make them more alert, but even that can be abused. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/102 "2012-11-10T13:00:58Z")
> [@redtail23](#): > > Ah, so you do then! > > Not unusual, most people love their mood-altering chemicals. > > Looks like you’re no better than anyone else, regardless of how smugly you > disapprove of them. I never said I was better than anyone else, and I use decaf. So the chemicals you are thinking of are removed! I don’t believe people who use drugs are bad either. I just wonder why the need for them. When you get in to your 80’s I hope you make it and have a good long life, then perhaps you will understand what I am trying to get across.I had several in-laws die of alcohol over use at a young age, and some of my classmates in high school who also died from it and their lives effected their families as well.At least 3 died before they were 40! If you see it as smugness then that is your right. ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/103 "2012-11-10T13:03:54Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **Monavis** , the fact that you yourself don’t choose to smoke marijuana is not relevant to the current discussion, which is about a change in marijuana laws. If you wish to discuss the pros and cons (I gather you’re strong on the cons) of recreational drug use, start a new thread in Great Debates. You’re off-topic in this thread. > > Everyone responding to **monavis** – this goes for you, too. Stop responding in this thread, but feel free to start a new thread in the appropriate forum if you have anything to say. > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator Sorry, I thought I had stated I was not against the law,permitting pot! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/104 "2012-11-10T14:41:12Z")
Deleted a most excellent post after seeing mod instructions. It was good too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/105 "2012-11-10T15:15:43Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > Sorry, I thought I had stated I was not against the law,permitting pot! I don’t care what your opinions are: My ruling was that debating opinions about the pros and cons of recreational drug use are off-topic in this thread. Please stop responding to that issue in this thread – you’re risking getting a warning for ignoring moderator instructions. If you wish to discuss, start a new thread. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/106 "2012-11-10T15:23:36Z")
So what are the cops going to do when they stop a driver who they think is buzzed? Is there a technology to measure the level of intoxication the driver is experiencing? Have they set a standard or will it be the cops call? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/107 "2012-11-10T15:33:53Z")
They will do the standard “walk a line”, “repeat the alphabet”, “follow my flashlight” checks for intoxication, and if they suspect you are under the influence, you will be arrested and taken in for a blood test. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/108 "2012-11-10T17:57:24Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > So what are the cops going to do when they stop a driver who they think is buzzed? Is there a technology to measure the level of intoxication the driver is experiencing? Have they set a standard or will it be the cops call? It drives me crazy when the fact that there is no “roadside test” for marijuana is why we can’t legalize. There’s a million drugs and conditions that impair driving that don’t have a roadside test. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/109 "2012-11-11T19:56:40Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > They will do the standard “walk a line”, “repeat the alphabet”, “follow my flashlight” checks for intoxication, and if they suspect you are under the influence, you will be arrested and taken in for a blood test. “Suspect you are under the influence” can include arrest of anyone who looks like a “damn hippy”. I’ve been arrested and thrown in jail for 48 hours on a DUI drugs charge after a minor traffic infraction, and all I had was long hair and red eyes from contact lenses. The roadside walk a line and touch your nose tests were a bad joke, and I still have a clean record because my blood test was negative so my case never went to trial. People should be wary of DUI charges even if marijuana is legalized. It helps not to drive at night if at all possible, and also avoid driving during holidays, especially the New Years weekend. Also, keep your hair relatively short if you’re male, and don’t wear tiedye shirts. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/110 "2012-11-12T03:25:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > They will do the standard “walk a line”, “repeat the alphabet”, “follow my flashlight” checks for intoxication, and if they suspect you are under the influence, you will be arrested and taken in for a blood test. Anything involving the alphabet is not a standard test, and defense attorneys eat cops who think they are for breakfast, lunch, dinner and fourth meal. Field sobriety tests plus urine drops will probably be where they go. Hopefully once states legalize it, universities in those states can start studying it. It would be nice to know what levels might result in impairment. Right now, the numbers I’m reading that they plan to use seem really low. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/111 "2012-11-12T04:00:27Z")
Perhaps they could add a “Resist the brownie” test? ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/112 "2012-11-12T04:19:04Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Deleted a most excellent post after seeing mod instructions. > > It was good too. 🙂 So you didn’t exhale? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/113 "2012-11-12T15:03:07Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Anything involving the alphabet is not a standard test, and defense attorneys eat cops who think they are for breakfast, lunch, dinner and fourth meal. > > Field sobriety tests plus urine drops will probably be where they go. Hopefully once states legalize it, universities in those states can start studying it. It would be nice to know what levels might result in impairment. Right now, the numbers I’m reading that they plan to use seem really low. LOL I am screwed, I am handicapped, so it would be roll a straight line. I am dyslexic and slightly dyscalculiar, so the count backwards from 100 by 7s would involve using my fingers and a lot of umming, I could not manage to do the alphabet backwards on a bet. Not to mentionthe chemical cocktail swanning around in my bloodstream would probably give lots of false that are not so false positives. I know that something I used to take about 15 years ago tended to give a false positive for coke or meth or something [I vaguely remember my doc telling me that I needed to tell any UA place that I was on whatever meds it was.] ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/114 "2012-11-12T15:39:13Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I never said I was better than anyone else, and I use decaf. So the chemicals you are thinking of are removed! I don’t believe people who use drugs are bad either. I just wonder why the need for them. When you get in to your 80’s I hope you make it and have a good long life, then perhaps you will understand what I am trying to get across.I had several in-laws die of alcohol over use at a young age, and some of my classmates in high school who also died from it and their lives effected their families as well.At least 3 died before they were 40! > If you see it as smugness then that is your right. My mother is 83 and uses a topical salve with MJ in it. I make it for her. She has 3 crushed vertebrae that cause her great pain. No ‘traditional’ drugs are helping. MJ does. I have a medical marijuana card as a care giver for my mother. The legalization of MJ in Colorado is a good thing in my mind, but it doesn’t make that much difference to me. Knowing that it helps my mom, and seeing the pain that she is in, I would get it. One way or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/115 "2012-11-12T15:44:03Z")
I think the tests are just a precursor to requesting you take a physical urine test. Engaging in glossolalia whilst hopping on one foot does not prove one is sober, and wouldn’t stand up in court if you flunk the actual, physical test. It’s just gives the cop more backing when s/he decides you need to be tested, as testing without probable cause is a no-no. ALL of the chat the cops do with you after you are stopped is simply gaining info on your mental state, 'cause obviously SOMEthing is up with your driving. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/116 "2012-11-12T15:49:54Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > I think the tests are just a precursor to requesting you take a physical urine test. How does a urine test show that you were driving under the influence? If MJ is legal, I’m gonna piss positive.That wouldn’t mean I partook in the past 72 hours, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/117 "2012-11-12T16:39:13Z")
I’m in Colorado and this has been discussed endlessly. Apparently the latest technology that cops can use roadside are mouth swabs. ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/118 "2012-11-12T22:20:46Z")
In Washington we are currently blood tests only for marijuana impairment. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/119 "2012-11-13T00:26:37Z")
> [@monavis](#): > > I have often wondered :why do people need a drug to be happy, why not find pleasure in small things,like seeing the smile of a small baby, beautiful sunset etc. To me seeing others happy is feeling good about life and I try every way I can to do this… Actually, I’ve been telling my kids this for over a decade now. Your brain is so powerful that you can do a DIY high. In fact, I was at a poker game where a friend pulled a gallon-size Ziploc out of the freezer, full of some high-end imported weed. I texted a pic to my pot-conniseur kid (yeah, that lecture didn’t much good, did it?), and he asked if it was the best weed I’d ever had, and if I was wasted yet… I said “Remember that thing where I can feel just as high/content/awesome using my brain? Well, since it’s true, the PrimoWeed would be wasted on me, so I’m mostly passing joints tonight”. Hey, I might have invented the Pass-Pass-Puff Rule. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185/120 "2012-11-13T00:57:20Z")
**Digs** , I have instructed **monavis** to drop the topic of the pros and cons of being “high on life” vs. “high on anything else,” and everyone else to stop responding to him/her on this. Pls. read through the thread to find my multiple posts with these instructions. **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colorado-legalized-it/640185.md?page=7)