It is absolutely absurd that there is no legal level of THC allowable by law in the saliva or the bloodstream when driving – as there is with that much more dangerous drug, alcohol.
Even the slightest trace of THC – which I’m told can be detected from a smoke many hours, days or even a week previously – will get you convicted of Driving Under the Influence.
You’ll lose your licence, perhaps your job, get fined, and perhaps even face gaol time.
And in the absence of an allowable level, there should be an impairment test for people who test positive for THC in their systems, if they’re picked up in a random roadside test without having driven erratically or broken any road laws.
Surely these roadside testing units could have a driving simulator – basically a car seat and a computer game coupled to a steering wheel and pedals – which can test your reaction times, and test whether you correctly handle on-screen simulations of sudden driving emergencies. (The same simulator could work in cases of alcohol readings over the permitted limits.)
As a cannabis user for many years, I am convinced that I was safer behind the wheel having had a smoke rather than being straight.
I was so much more focused on the driving and so much more attuned as regards my senses. Calmer and therefore less likely to speed.
More focused on the process of getting there, than on the destination. My eyes continually scanned the road ahead, and looked further ahead than otherwise – arguably the best way of avoiding accidents.
When driving while straight, I often found myself on auto-pilot, in charge of the car well enough, but totally unfocused on the driving – my mind a million miles away.
My gaze sometimes drifted off the road, and I was driving with not much more than peripheral vision. No problems, until the unexpected happens.
When straight, my speeds tended to drift up to around 10-20k over the limit, whereas when stoned I scrupulously observed speed limits.
When, Oh when are our politicians going to grow some brains and stop demonising this herb?
William Randolph Hearst and Harry Anslinger are two Americans from the 1930s who have a huge burden of guilt for the way they’ve destroyed or damaged so many lives worldwide, and enriched so many criminals and corrupt officials in getting almost all countries of the world to declare it illegal.
George Lewin, Montecollum
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
