# How Dangerous Is the "Most Dangerous Marijuana"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 28, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021 "2003-05-28T14:41:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/21 "2003-05-28T20:51:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SuaSponte \* > \*\*A considerably more important factor in driving than agressiveness/paranoia, etc., is reaction time. And pot slows reaction time - just ask the stoner who laughs at the joke five minutes after it was told. \*\* Well, according to the link above from Stanford University, the results were far from conclusive. > [@](#): > > Studies on the acute effects of marijuana on simulated driving have shown mixed results. the first compared smoked marijuana (doses uncertain) with ethanol in sufficient quantities to produce alcohol levels of 100 mg/dl. > > Marijuana increased speedometer errors but produced no deviation from the norm on accelerator, brake, signal, steering, or total errors. Alcohol had a far more deleterious effect > [@](#): > > Sixty-four volunteer subjects smoked cigarettes containing 0, 4.9, or 8.4 mg of THC. Oddly enough, THC had a biphasic effect, causing deterioration of driving skills in some subjects and improvement in others. Having said that, it would probably be wise to just stay put or have someone else drive while under the influence. > [@](#): > > \*\* > This I can confirm. Back in college one evening, using rigorous criteria, my friends and I conclusively proved that you cannot toke yourself to death. šŸ˜‰ > > Sua \*\* I see that rather than experiment with drugs, you were into full-scale research. šŸ™‚ I can tell you that our independent research on the west coast produced the same results. It could be possible to eat yourself to death though. ---
**Author:** ![chattywine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@chattywine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chattywine)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/22 "2003-05-28T22:02:46Z")
I agree with those who said stoners donā€™t smoke beyond the point when they are nice nā€™ fluffy. Or something to that effect. From my experience (growing up in Humboldt) ((Is it okay to say that?)) the VAST MAJORITY prefer to smoke and do anything else but drive around. Driving is something most donā€™t even consider. Why waste the high? I think the only thing the ā€˜reactionā€™ ā€¦ - US reaction: quote: ā€œSome of the strongest and most dangerous marijuana on the U.S. market is coming from Canada,ā€ John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said in a telephone interview today.\* ā€¦will do is raise the demand for Canadian Green. Dangerous? What, extreme bellyache from overdoing the munchies? I just donā€™t see (yes I checked the links about marijuana ODā€™ing) how it can be dangerous. A bit too much and you just fall asleep. ;j ---
**Author:** ![that.sound.again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e5b9ba/32.png) [@that.sound.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that.sound.again)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/23 "2003-05-28T22:59:55Z")
Interesting debate. Only thing that surprises me is the lack of anti-marijuana posts. Iā€™m from Denmark, see, and I thought our relaxed attitude towards smoking pot wasnā€™t shared by the majority in the US. Good thing, though, that the propaganda isnā€™t working. Do you think legalization will happen anytime soon? ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/24 "2003-05-28T23:29:06Z")
The last thing Iā€™d wanna do when baked off my ass is take a trip in the car. The couch would move just about as fast as Iā€™d want to go when stoned. Pot smokers I know will smoke until theyā€™re high, watch anime on TV, and go no further than they have to in order to reach the food. ---
**Author:** ![GoHeels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@GoHeels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoHeels)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/25 "2003-05-28T23:30:35Z")
that.sound.again: > [@](#): > > Only thing that surprises me is the lack of anti-marijuana posts. Iā€™m from Denmark, see, and I thought our relaxed attitude towards smoking pot wasnā€™t shared by the majority in the US. Good thing, though, that the propaganda isnā€™t working. Do you think legalization will happen anytime soon? **that.sound.again** , among the regular American folks I talk to, (comprised of conservative, liberal, gay, straight, rich, middle class, poor, black, white, etc.) I have yet to meet anyone (except my wifeā€™s grandmother) who agrees with our draconian, stupid marijuana laws. The propaganda, these same folks almost universally agree, is laughable. And of course, legalization (or at least sensible decriminalization like you guys across the pond have and what Canada is moving toward) is a distant dream. Our pols, simply put, have no balls when it comes to this issue - they are way too tied to certain industries that benefit from MJ prohibition. Hopefully, in a few years, when America sees our northern neighbor managed to survive the ā€œapocalypseā€ that MJ decrim hath wrought, we will see the light and stop filling our prisons with non-violent, otherwise law-abiding people who happen to smoke. On this issue at least, the world has every right to sneer at us. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/26 "2003-05-29T04:57:48Z")
Unfortunately, **that.sound.again** , I think it is and will remain a largely theoretical issue here in the United States. If I had to break it down among the simplest lines, I suppose I could just point out that America is a big place, so big that we often take a ā€œthe sum of our parts is collectively a lot stupider than anyone we actually knowā€ approach to regulating our society. In some respects, itā€™s depressingly true. One damned fool can ruin the collective good intentions of a thousand of us; and worse, such incidents make the news and offend the peer-over-the-fence sentiments of some of our most vociferous leaders, while simultaneously titilating the denser part of our electorate into actually voicing an uninformed opinion. For these reasons, I think itā€™s likely that marijuana, like speeding or other similar social ills, will be regarded as stupid as making it illegal to flip to the next weekā€™s edition of Human Events for the answers to the crossword puzzle by a plurality of Americans, but it will remain illegal. _Did that make any sense at all? Dude, heheheh._ ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/27 "2003-05-29T06:05:04Z")
Heh, heh, heh. Anybody else thinking of that old Cheech and Chong routine about the Army troops being sent to burn the marijuana crops? Maybe the USā€™ll invade Canada to ā€œburnā€ the pot fields! ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/28 "2003-05-29T06:19:15Z")
Iā€™ve responded to many an alcohol fueled domestic disturbance and where parties, friendships, and sometimes even lives are ended. Alcohol is a far greater danger than a bit oā€™ mary jane. The better the stuff, the less you use, the less you use, the less damage you cause, the less damage you cause, the healthier you stay, the healthier you stay, the longer you can work, the longer you can work, the longer you pay taxes, the longer you pay taxes, the more money the govā€™t gets to fund guys like me whose job it is to take your pot away. Using my own bit of logic, I think the ONDCP should just tape it shut and open up the borders, this may be just the shot in the arm this economy needsā€¦:rolleyes: I canā€™t take the pressure of dealing with the morons anymore, I think Iā€™ll go have a beer. ā€”What Would Scooby Doo? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/29 "2003-05-29T11:59:21Z")
Yeah, whereā€™s the debate? From whatā€™s been posted here, ā€œThe Most Dangerous Marijuanaā€[sub]TM[/sub] doesnā€™t sound all that dangerous. Good brand name though. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/30 "2003-05-29T14:01:43Z")
To be honest, I kind of expected there to be more people on the other side of the debate. NOw if we could just get the government to realize how ridiculous their war actually is. ---
**Author:** ![mooka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/31 "2003-05-29T15:44:34Z")
I read somewhere once that the minimum lethal dosage of marijuana is about a ton, dropped on your head from high up. ---
**Author:** ![MegaDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/db5fbb/32.png) [@MegaDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaDave)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/32 "2003-05-29T19:27:18Z")
it is interesting when you know some of the facts of the why and how of mj laws. for instance, it isnā€™t (or used to not be) illegal to have pot, only to have pot without a tax stamp (similar to the ones seen on the bottom of cigarette packages), and then the govnā€™t just simply refused to give out the stamps. Maxxim magazine had an article some time ago that compared some of the laws, and showed some of the dumber ones here in the US. like the fact that the average conviction for murder gets you something like 7.6 years in jail, and the average conviction for pot gets you closer to 10 years in jail. I donā€™t remember exactly when it was, so i canā€™t link it, but it was interesting nonetheless. I personally think the ā€œWar of Drugsā€ is about the biggest waste of time and money those idiots in wash. have dreamt up in the last 30 years ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/33 "2003-05-29T20:09:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MegaDave \* > \*\* > I personally think the ā€œWar of Drugsā€ is about the biggest waste of time and money those idiots in wash. have dreamt up in the last 30 years \*\* Thereā€™s some pretty stiff competition for that honor. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/34 "2003-05-29T22:17:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Form a post by Tomcat \* > > My friend is a cop in Denver and he wishes there were an easy way to test for pot for DUI. He says that most of the police he knows would advocate legalising marijuana if they could test drivers for it. Right now the only test he knows of is one where you tilt your head back and look up. They then look at the curve of your eyeball and see if it is shaking back and forth; this supposedly means you have smoked pot within the past 36 hours (maybe more), which is oh-so-helpfulā€¦ > > Glad to see Canada is trying to do something logical with regards to pot. The war-on-some-drugs is so ridiculous and ineffectual it is unbelievable. > > -Tcat \*\* Seems to me, driving recklessly is A Bad Thing, _regardless_ of the state of the driver. A person driving recklessly is a danger to himself and others, period. Why concern ourselves with causes? Itā€™s the action that is important, not the cause. One reckless driver may be drunk, another may be on drugs, while another may not be impaired by any substance. The unimpaired reckless driver may be angry, upset, distracted, stupid, have poor impulse control. Any number of causes might be theorized. But what does it matter? Why not just pull over anyone who is driving recklessly (and for that matter, anyone who seems to be drifting off to sleep at the wheel), and ticket him or arrest him, or whatever seems appropriate? And, I would say, _donā€™t_ pull anyone over without valid cause. No one who is driving legally and safely should be pulled over ā€œjust to check him outā€. ---
**Author:** ![enigmatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@enigmatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigmatic)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/35 "2003-05-30T07:34:50Z")
No, there is a very good reason for not driving under the influence, as other posterā€™s have already pointed out cannabis slows the reflexes and makes an accident more likely. Just because you arenā€™t weaving all over the road doesnā€™t mean that you will be able to brake in time if a kid runs out in front of you. My attitude to the use of marijuana (as a none user) is that people should be allowed to do what they want as long as they do not harm otherā€™s in doing so (and I do think the USā€™s stance on cannabis is nuts), however I am quite comfortable with the idea that anyone found DUI should be charged with an additional offence and severely punished (as should people who drink while drunk). As soon as you start putting other peoples lives at risk you step over the line, as far as I am concerned ---
**Author:** ![Cinyrus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Cinyrus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinyrus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/36 "2003-05-31T02:17:23Z")
Itā€™s pretty widely agreed that alchohol is far more dangerous when driving than marijuana. In my opinion, itā€™s because it screws your vision. Marijuana usually affects people in different ways. Iā€™ve known some great stoned drivers and Iā€™ve known some guys that would just spin the wheel and hope for luck. Driving on anything that screws your senses or slows your reaction time is a bad idea. I also think legalization will slowly become more accepted here in the US. I mean, shit, all the anti-marijuana ads I see these days are based around the fact that smoking anything is bad for you, and thatā€™s just not a very strong argument for keeping it illegal. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/37 "2003-05-31T02:30:05Z")
I suspect that tradition is the most powerful current of criminalization. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/38 "2003-05-31T02:48:47Z")
It is entirely possible that Canadian marijuana is powerful to the point of actual danger. We would be remiss if we did not give this matter mature and careful consideration. I am willing to offer myself as an experimental subject, if such ā€œkiller weedā€ might be made available. Sometimes stern duty makes demands that must be met. I stand ready. ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/39 "2003-05-31T16:43:19Z")
follow the money lots of people would be out of work (directly or indirectly) if it was legalized ---
**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021/40 "2003-05-31T16:44:40Z")
if it was legalized in the US that is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dangerous-is-the-most-dangerous-marijuana/178021.md?page=3)