# If you saw someone smoking pot while driving, would you do anything? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214 "2013-03-28T20:58:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/21 "2013-03-29T01:27:35Z")
I can’t see how I would be able to be sure it was pot, and not tobacco. If, however, I were sure…hell, yes, I’d make that call. No different from if they’re drinking, distracted by a phone, distracted by a dog, distracted by a kid, doing their nails, reading a newspaper (I’ve seen it!) whatever. That kind of driving is not a victimless crime. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/22 "2013-03-29T02:08:51Z")
> [@colander](#): > > [Sadly, not so much.](http://www.bmj.com/press-releases/2012/02/09/acute-cannabis-consumption-and-motor-vehicle-collision-risk) > > " … nearly twice as likely to cause a vehicle collision …" > It seems to be a common perception among pot-smokers that mild marijuana intoxication does not result in driving impairment. As far as I know, research does not back them up on this. First: Cite that anyone claims mild marijuana intoxication never impairs driving. No cite? Fine, but let’s write more precisely in future please. Second: Your link ignores the relevant asked question: How does cannabis impairment _compare with_ alcohol impairment? BAC=0.08 represents _eleven times_ the risk (vs 2x for cannabis) of sober ([cite](http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/drive/a/aa070297.htm)) and much higher BAC is common among drunks driving. Hence your data just confirms the “pro-cannabis” claims. 😃 BTW, I notice your linked title has “acute cannabis consumption” and your synopsis has “mild marijuana intoxication.” Admittedly, the range of cannabis intoxication may be greater than alcohol intoxication, e.g. as measured by the ratio of dosages needed for giddiness vs incapacitation. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/23 "2013-03-29T03:31:41Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > First: Cite that anyone claims mild marijuana intoxication never impairs driving. Okay. Here it is again, from post 8: > [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I recently saw a study that showed that high drivers are more careful and drive safer than sober drivers (proving the common joke/meme true). As I said, I agree with **Bob** that this is information that is commonly passed around, though I beg to differ with him about there ever having been an actual study behind it. > [@](#): > > Second: Your link ignores the relevant asked question: How does cannabis impairment _compare with_ alcohol impairment? _Au contraire._ If you’d kindly reread our exchange, you’ll notice that that particular question was neither relevant nor asked until you brought it up in your last post. Now, shall we write a bit less superciliously next time, **septimus**? Yes, I think we shall. Good day to you and toodle pip! ---
**Author:** ![esmeralda2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ccd318/32.png) [@esmeralda2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/esmeralda2)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/24 "2013-03-29T03:37:12Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > I was waiting behind a car to enter a fairly busy, divided, 4-lane this afternoon and I noticed the driver of the car taking a hit off a pot pipe. (Yes, I’m sure.) He was pretty young and had a female passenger. He pulled out when it was safe and I proceeded on my way. I briefly thought about calling 311 and reporting him, thinking about the safety of other people, but I didn’t. I have no idea if he was impaired, but I feel the same way about high-driving as drunk-driving. Looking back, I think I should have called. > > Would you have reported him? Yes. If it was possible, I’d get their car license plate number, pull over and call the police and report it. It would be the same if I saw someone driving and drinking a bottle of beer or something, or saw someone driving very erratically and dangerously. I would try to get their license plate number, I’d pull over, and I’d report it to the police. Someone like that could end up killling someone, so I believe it is everyone’s business to report something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/25 "2013-03-29T03:44:33Z")
I’d change lanes. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/26 "2013-03-29T04:15:52Z")
My boyfriend rarely drives \*without \*smoking weed. Obviously, no, I don’t do anything about it. ---
**Author:** ![PurpleClogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@PurpleClogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurpleClogs)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/27 "2013-03-29T04:39:34Z")
There are other cultures who smoke loose tobacco from pipes and hand rolled cigarettes that from a distance look like it could be marijuana. I don’t know how you could be sure what they are smoking is illegal unless you’re just making assumptions. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/28 "2013-03-29T05:00:09Z")
> [@PurpleClogs](#): > > I don’t know how you could be sure what they are smoking is illegal unless you’re just making assumptions. Yeah, and I’m sure the police respond to each and every call they’d get too from people who _think_ they see someone smoking a doobie in a car on the road. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/29 "2013-03-29T05:33:38Z")
> [@colander](#): > > It seems to be a common perception among pot-smokers that mild marijuana intoxication does not result in driving impairment. As far as I know, research does not back them up on this. The study you linked (or at least the article you linked about the study) doesn’t really say much in regard to how much pot was consumed. I’m often skeptical about the “I drive better while high!” trope. However, that article doesn’t give us much that we can say in general, considering it draws its results only from whether “cannabis [was] consumed”. Also that results taken through blood samples wouldn’t be accurate in adding data points to their “within 12-hour window”. I bet if I ran a study on people who drank one beer and then drove, I could produce similar results that say “When alcohol is consumed, there is little to no effect on driving,” even though we know that’s crap when speaking in generalities. So either the study itself is bad or the article is. ---
**Author:** ![the\_apples\_fell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@the\_apples\_fell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_apples_fell)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/30 "2013-03-29T05:38:05Z")
Of course. To not do so puts other drivers in danger. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/31 "2013-03-29T05:46:33Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#): > > I noticed the driver of the car taking a hit off a pot pipe. **(Yes, I’m sure.)** How? Did the pipe have “Marijuana Only” written on the side? ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/32 "2013-03-29T05:58:49Z")
> [@the\_apples\_fell](#): > > Of course. To not do so puts other drivers in danger. So does every driver you see speeding or weaving in and out of traffic or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/33 "2013-03-29T06:49:57Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > So does every driver you see speeding or weaving in and out of traffic or whatever. As well as every driver talking on the phone rather then keeping his eye on the road and his hands on the wheel.\* One\* of the Junior G-Men upthread said he’d pull over before calling the cops. Most of them obviously plan to make that call while driving… ---
**Author:** ![CJPAmadaeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/fbc32d/32.png) [@CJPAmadaeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJPAmadaeus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/34 "2013-03-29T06:54:54Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > I recently saw a study that showed that high drivers are more careful and drive safer than sober drivers (proving the common joke/meme true). One way I hear it put, and can confirm anecdotally, is that stoned people know when they’re too high to drive, unlike drunks who think they’re fine to drive when they’re clearly not. This. It’s a legal issue, not a safety one. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/35 "2013-03-29T06:59:57Z")
I would not. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/36 "2013-03-29T07:03:21Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > As well as every driver talking on the phone rather then keeping his eye on the road and his hands on the wheel.\* One\* of the Junior G-Men upthread said he’d pull over before calling the cops. Most of them obviously plan to make that call while driving… I wouldn’t think of calling the popo unless they were actually doing something. Now, I know that driving high isn’t exactly ideal but my boyfriend does drive for hours every day, my baby is ALWAYS high (I’m not a huge fan of that but it does vastly predate me and I’ve been around for a decade) and he’s a black dude with a nice car without a valid license, so…draw your own conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/37 "2013-03-29T07:40:51Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > my boyfriend does drive for hours every day… without a valid license He drives hours a day without a valid license?? Black or white, high or not, that just seems like a recipe for trouble. Unless I misread this. ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/38 "2013-03-29T07:46:37Z")
How do you know they weren’t smoking ice? ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/39 "2013-03-29T08:03:56Z")
> [@\_Olive](#): > > How do you know they weren’t smoking ice? Psychic ability, presumably. ---
**Author:** ![highrollinwooded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/71c47a/32.png) [@highrollinwooded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/highrollinwooded)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214/40 "2013-03-29T08:35:43Z")
No…if they’re not clearly driving irradically…mind your business!!!It’s not that big of a thing people! Guessin the people sayin that they would have busted him have not tried the evil weed…lol [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-saw-someone-smoking-pot-while-driving-would-you-do-anything/654214.md?page=3)