# Would it bother you if someone was smoking marijuana on the sidewalk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138 "2017-12-10T20:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/61 "2017-12-13T21:57:51Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Yes, the criminality is almost pants-shitting. In Idaho, where I am, smoking marijuana is _easily_ as criminal as shitting your pants is. > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > :eek: What? Like I said, I live in Idaho; we don’t even allow _medical_ marijuana here. We have aggressive cops here. This area is full of religious busybodys who would totally call those cops. So no, nobody is going to be toking out in public on the street. And like I said I’m personally a really boring person and even if I do happen to know any criminal scum, they know I’m a dull old stick in the mud and wouldn’t bust out the fun stuff around me. I don’t see why this is hard to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/62 "2017-12-13T22:13:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You don’t have to - I will. > > [“Acute cannabis consumption is associated with an increased risk of a motor vehicle crash, especially for fatal collisions.”](http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e536) > > Regards, > Shodan From that link: > [@](#): > > However, although laboratory studies have high internal validity with regard to the dose related effects of cannabis on performance, the dose-response association is unclear in relation to driving ability and collision risk outside the laboratory. As a result, these studies do not always translate well to driving scenarios in the real world, and generally focus on experienced cannabis users consuming the drug in unorthodox surroundings and undertaking tasks that do not always reflect the complex nature of driving in natural settings. And after the following is deciphered… > [@](#): > > We selected nine studies in the review and meta-analysis. Driving under the influence of cannabis was associated with a significantly increased risk of motor vehicle collisions compared with unimpaired driving (odds ratio 1.92 (95% confidence interval 1.35 to 2.73); P=0.0003); we noted heterogeneity among the individual study effects (I2=81). Collision risk estimates were higher in case-control studies (2.79 (1.23 to 6.33); P=0.01) and studies of fatal collisions (2.10 (1.31 to 3.36); P=0.002) than in culpability studies (1.65 (1.11 to 2.46); P=0.07) and studies of non-fatal collisions (1.74 (0.88 to 3.46); P=0.11). …you obviously are not getting it: the difference is so negligible that it in NO WAY warrants the tut-tutting that driving while stoned gets. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2017, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/63 "2017-12-13T22:14:44Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > As for my back alley, I may get aggressive with my sprinkler. A lady I knew planted stinging nettles to discourage the neighborhood kids from smoking behind her garage. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/64 "2017-12-13T22:18:12Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > In Idaho, where I am, smoking marijuana is _easily_ as criminal as shitting your pants is. ☹ > [@begbert2](#): > > What? Like I said, I live in Idaho; we don’t even allow _medical_ marijuana here. We have aggressive cops here. This area is full of religious busybodys who would totally call those cops. So no, nobody is going to be toking out in public on the street. And like I said I’m personally a really boring person and even if I do happen to know any criminal scum, they know I’m a dull old stick in the mud and wouldn’t bust out the fun stuff around me. > > I don’t see why this is hard to believe. Sure - not the most unfathomable of notions, but definitely a _bum-mer_ one, dude. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/65 "2017-12-13T23:21:24Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Having one’s vapours over vaping?🙂 > > If you were in the Land of Noxiously Inferior Cigarettes (Canada), I think you’d take the pot smoke. > > Yes, the criminality is almost pants-shitting. > > I’m guessing neither you folks have driven while stoned? Been doing it for decades, myself. (no hubris there - just sayin) I laugh at those moronic TV ads showing some “stoned” kid, roadside with the fuzz, unsteadily trying to walk a straight line. If you’re seriously just as impaired driving stoned as when you’re drunk, then there is something unequivocally wrong with you. To even _think_ of making even the _slightest_ conflation between the two is incredibly, ridiculously misguided. > Really? Do I seriously need to provide cites on this? > > I was trying to think of a scenario where I could somehow finagle myself into the proximity of Beauregard (kinda like a mohawked Travis Bickle eyeing that mayoral candidate) so I could blow some into his face, but soon realised the absolute impossibility of such an endeavour, let alone the fact that if I _did_ pull this off, I’d probably get dog-piled and jack-booted faster than I could say “whasssssuuuuuuuuuuuuup!” > > :eek: > > Ditto here in Victoria. Saw it everywhere here even before the dispensaries starting popping up, and Dang, after two years, I _still_ feel like a kid going into a candy store, going to one. I have driven while stoned and it isn’t safe. Only a strongly in denial stoner cannot see it. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/66 "2017-12-13T23:50:31Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I have driven while stoned and it isn’t safe. Only a strongly in denial stoner cannot see it. That is only on you, then, if you don’t have the evident (and not really asking the moon) confidence in your driving abilities while stoned. Denial? All I can “see” is that I’ve never had problems, _in the slightest_, while driving stoned. Nothing special at all - pretty straightforward. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/67 "2017-12-13T23:55:11Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > That is only on you, then, if you don’t have the evident (and not really asking the moon) confidence in your driving abilities while stoned. > > Denial? All I can “see” is that I’ve never had problems, _in the slightest_, while driving stoned. Nothing special at all - pretty straightforward. I hear that completely drunk people sometimes have impaired judgement that leads them to conclude they’re totally not too impaired to drive. And if a completely sloshed dude hasn’t gotten in a wreck yet, that’s clear and unassailable proof that drunk driving is completely safe. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/68 "2017-12-14T00:03:23Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I hear that completely drunk people sometimes have impaired judgement that leads them to conclude they’re totally not too impaired to drive. And if a completely sloshed dude hasn’t gotten in a wreck yet, that’s clear and unassailable proof that drunk driving is completely safe. A drunk in denial is just plain _not in the cards_. You honestly think driving stoned is as bad driving drunk? You’re kidding, right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/69 "2017-12-14T00:18:14Z")
Wouldn’t really bother me. It’s technically not legal in CA yet, but where I live (SF Bay Area), you see people smoking pot in public all the time. Most people don’t seem to care. Just don’t be shouting: HEY, I’M GETTING HIGH OVER HERE!!! Been that way here for many years. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/70 "2017-12-14T00:31:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wouldn’t really bother me. It’s technically not legal in CA yet, but where I live (SF Bay Area), you see people smoking pot in public all the time. Most people don’t seem to care. Just don’t be shouting: HEY, I’M GETTING HIGH OVER HERE!!! > > Been that way here for many years. Well, there are a lot of things in the Bay area that don’t even merit a sideways glance that would mean a 911 call in most places. How has that public nudity ban been going over lately? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/71 "2017-12-14T16:55:19Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > …you obviously are not getting it: the difference is so negligible that it in NO WAY warrants the tut-tutting that driving while stoned gets. I’m getting it just fine. I have already posted a cite from the BMJ that marijuana use increases the incidence of vehicle crashes, especially those involving fatalities. You, on the other hand, have produced nothing besides the repeated assertion that [you have been breaking the law](https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/criminal-defense/dui-and-dwi-charges/marijuana-dui-laws.htm) for years, and have gotten away with it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/72 "2017-12-14T18:51:27Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wouldn’t really bother me. It’s technically not legal in CA yet, but where I live (SF Bay Area), you see people smoking pot in public all the time. Most people don’t seem to care. Just don’t be shouting: HEY, I’M GETTING HIGH OVER HERE!!! > > Been that way here for many years. I was out in SF a few years ago, the smell of Kind Nuggets allow was ubiquitous. The most shocking event i witnessed was passing a guy, while i was walking down Mission street on a Sunday morning. He was stark ass naked with the exception of his shoes and socks. I wasn’t upset, miffed or outraged by the event, just shocked that he was so nonchalant. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/73 "2017-12-14T18:59:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I smoke daily, both alone as well as with friends. I can’t remember _ever_ encountering an aggressive smoker. Is that even a thing? Yes. Because while you may be using daily to relax, not everyone has the same goals as you, and not everyone has the same source of drugs, or the same reaction. I have bounced extremely aggressive cannabis and hash smokers from house parties. YMMV. > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > A drunk in denial is just plain _not in the cards_. > You honestly think driving stoned is as bad driving drunk? > You’re kidding, right? I play a game when riding my motorcycle called drunk, stoned, or texting. The stoned drivers (and it’s obvious, since some are smoking as they drive) weave as much as the texters and in general _do not react_ to what is happening right in front of them, such as stopping for red lights or moving forward at green lights. When it comes to driving it’s variations from the norm that cause crashes, and marijuana users do not react like other drivers. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/74 "2017-12-14T19:57:16Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > A drunk in denial is just plain _not in the cards_. > You honestly think driving stoned is as bad driving drunk? > You’re kidding, right? I honestly think that your self-assessment of being completely unimpaired by marijuana (which you developed while impaired by marijuana) isn’t worth the rolling paper it’s printed on. And as to whether driving stoned is as bad driving drunk, I think it (very obviously) depends on exactly how stoned/drunk you are. There are reports of people _passing out_ due to smoking weed. If that happens to you while you’re going 75, then yeah, you’re a bigger hazard than a dude who’s had one beer. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/75 "2017-12-14T20:28:50Z")
I hate the smell, so it depends on whether kids are around and how much of it I have to smell. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/76 "2017-12-14T20:30:09Z")
Here’s newer study. [https://news.lift.co/scientific-debate-around-legal-thc-limit-driving/](https://news.lift.co/scientific-debate-around-legal-thc-limit-driving/) Notice they can’t even agree on what ng/mL concentration equals impairment. They also point out that traffic fatality statistics with respect to cannabis don’t factor in other things such as alcohol, speed, age,other mechanical conditions or environmental factors. Merely having THC in ones system is no real indication of being “loaded.” That said, driving is a terrible idea while using. It shouldn’t be necessary for anyone to need to be told that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/77 "2017-12-14T20:48:27Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > I was out in SF a few years ago, the smell of Kind Nuggets allow was ubiquitous. > … Can someone please decode this sentence for the rest of us? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/78 "2017-12-14T21:01:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Can someone please decode this sentence for the rest of us? They are very creative in identifying the cannabis strains. Probably a reference to what it was. Purple Panty Dropper is my favorite name of all. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/79 "2017-12-15T03:52:58Z")
My takeaway so far: anyone here who maintains that driving stoned is _any_ concern have either not actually done so themselves (and ignorantly relying on dubious data) or should maybe not consider doing so if they’re really that super-skittish about it. Alcohol is a whole different kettle of fish and should be universally avoided if you’re driving, period, but driving stoned is such a cakewalk - something that the cops here in my environs have long understood, and something that is such an absolute nothingburger that if DUI-stoned laws around these parts are actually ever implemented, they sure-as-ducky won’t get enforced. Cueing alarmist “well I hope you stoners all end up crashing into each other, then” in 3…2…1… (yeah and like _that’s_ ever been much of an epidemic here) ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138/80 "2017-12-15T06:45:34Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > My takeaway so far: anyone here who maintains that driving stoned is _any_ concern have either not actually done so themselves (and ignorantly relying on dubious data) or should maybe not consider doing so if they’re really that super-skittish about it. > > … > > Cueing alarmist “well I hope you stoners all end up crashing into each other, then” in 3…2…1… > (yeah and like _that’s_ ever been much of an epidemic here) Wow, not really worth responding because your point is so far out of touch with reality in this. Do you want a stoned surgeon operating on you? Do you want the pilots, on your next flight, smoking cannabis as they wait to take off? You want stoners running around the south 40 with live ammunition in their weapons? How about a dentist who blazes up before drilling one of your teeth? None of this should be a problem if you believe what you’re saying. I really don’t get it. There’s a time and a place, and it certainly isn’t behind the wheel of a moving car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-bother-you-if-someone-was-smoking-marijuana-on-the-sidewalk/804138.md?page=5)