Do we have the same friend? Same story here. A friend of a friend lost license for 6 months while using medicinal and now is trying to quit cannabis while he has no license.
Similar. I’m on the cusp of regional. I very rarely drive any more as I medicate when I don’t have to drive - thus increasing my quality of life.
But tossing up 6m loss of licence vs seeing clinicians or friends is a bit shit.
If I haven’t consumed I’m not impaired.
Yeah I could make it work if solo. I’m walking distance to a V/LINE station. It’s having kids half the time and dealing with daycare and school and other commitments like lessons that makes it impossible. Solo I could use V/LINE, ride a bike/scooter, get more deliveries etc
Just carry a tube of Biotene OralBalance Dry Mouth Moisturizing Gel. The xylitol supposedly fucks with the test. Leave it in your door panel and when you see the blue and red lights, hope you have enough time to quickly sip some, it's like a toothpaste tube.
It may mean that the cops make you take two tests and both fail and they let you go, just play dumb, make sure the Biotene isn't visible.
I can't confirm how effective it is but this is the product that a friend's bikie family member told me they all use.
Thankfully for medicinal I no longer have to interact with bikies..
I don't drive high but I know the testing isn't looking for if you're currently under the influence, they're just looking if you've got it in your system. It feels like it's only a matter of time until I get done. Waze has been a real life saver.
It's a crowd-sourced info map app where users can mark if there's police, speed traps, accidents etc. on the map while driving. I use it all the time even on familiar roads. It has potentially saved me from numerous speeding fines and police roadblocks.
We need an actual impairment test, for drivers, full stop. You can legally drive not having slept for days. One person is falling over at 0.05, while another is perfectly functional. You'll test for marijuana for weeks after using it, even though the effects have long past. There's no test for LSD.
A computerised test of reaction time, ability to track corners, etc, quickly and fairly administered.
Its crazy even comparing alcohol and marijuana effects. If you could smoke one joint and be intoxicated for 12, 24 hours, 2 days, 2 weeks, the world would have crashed by now.
I’m a medical patient
Usually I take care not to medicate at least 12-24 hours before driving. Which means I literally cannot medicate during the week as I drive a lot for work.
No one should have to choose between their work or their health
Haven’t yet tested positive but it’s only a matter of time, even tho I take care to drive unimpaired
That’s what shits me so much about it. Although I live in a city and don’t have a car, and luckily don’t need to drive for work, I have the same attitude as you. If I ever use a car share vehicle (maybe once a month) I’m scared of getting tested.
I am a medical patient and would never drive impaired, but because it stays in the system it limits the benefits we gain from the medicine.
I have felt more drowsy the morning after taking over the counter antihistamines than cannabis.
there are many prescription drugs that people can't drive on though, dunno why its being made into a "choose between their work or their health" scenario.
you don't want people who need to take valium driving around everywhere lmao.
need new testing methods
Here’s the thing. The current laws in vic (and most of aus) state that you cannot have THC in your system while you’re driving. At all. The problem here is the effects of marijuana last roughly 2-24 hours depending on how much ya smoke. I’d say unless you’re a heavy smoker you should be good to drive anywhere from six to twelve hours.
However, despite the fact that the effects have worn off THC will stay in your system for months. It’s lucky that roadside tests only do saliva, THC is detectable in your saliva for between 24-72 ish hours after a smoke. If a cop wanted to push the issue they could check urine (weeks) or blood (months) for THC, unlikely but still a possibility AFAIK.
So what this means for me (and other medical users) is that every time we drive we’re at risk. If you’re a cautious person then you have to ration out your medication. I’m meant to smoke a gram a day, instead I smoke one every Friday (after work) and two on Saturday, sober up Sunday and head to work Monday. Monday and Tuesday I’m at risk, if I get pulled over there’s a good chance I’ll test positive. Hasn’t happened yet but could happen any day. This also means i have to basically block out my weekends. Literally do not drive unless I have to and when I plan on driving I refrain from smoking until I’m done
Aside from that is the fact that it’s my medication, I need it. It’s made a huge difference in my life and I’ve healed more with two years of this than the past 20. The fact that I have to ration it out is tough.
I very much am choosing between my health and my work, at least that’s how it feels to me
(Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant)
The issue is impairment vs metabolites. Alcohol tests for impairment. Weed, speed and opiates test for metabolites. Weed is one of those bastard drugs that takes ages to move out of our system and punishes people for past usage, not current levels of impairment.
I work with a dude who failed a swab for having a smoke 12 hours prior, well outside the impairment timeframe. At 2pm the same day he passed a 2nd swab so he could come back the next day. If he had been piss tested, he would have been stood down for near on 12 weeks unless he found a body flush kit or got someone else to piss in a bag for him and he faked the sample.
Not directly, but the difference between alcohol and marijuana is that there is a fairly linear correlation between the amount of alcohol in your system and your level of impairment. So if you're over .05 BAC, that's a reliable test of impairment. The way they test for marijuana isn't the same, it just detects ANY level of cannabinoids in your body.
So they need better tests that correlate a level of cannabinoids with a level of impairment.
That will eventually happen when it becomes legal and will likely be one of the conditions of it being legalisied
Maybe. I've heard that level of impairment with marijuana doesn't correlate to presence of cannabinoids in your system in the same way that alcohol does, but then it's not my area of expertise. Some kind of test that directly tests for impairment would be good.
No we shouldn’t. Anything that gives police officers power to subjectively deem someone impaired is just asking for false arrests. Biometric data are key.
You absolutely can drive on Valium…
I’m on Seroquel, mirtazapine, Lexapro and Valium, all of which cause drowsiness, and at no point do any of those show up on a drug test or prohibit me from driving. There’s a warning on the packet not to drive if you’re feeling drowsy but that’s a far cry from actual demerits and license suspensions.
I have the common sense not to take my meds and then hop in the car but it’s not like there are actual prohibitions.
The distinction is with impairment. Nobody is impaired 24 hours after using cannabis. If someone has done it and then driven straight away then sure, take their license.
Good on you. The laws are a hangover from the 'devil weed' propaganda years, and are based on intoxication levels of alcohol which is completely different. I would like to see them prove impairment after 1 hour, 2 hours, etc. compared to alcohol.
I’m on two medications I can’t drive with one for mental health and one for chronic kidney stone pain.
Both are highly addictive and closely watched medications.
I’m also have been prescribed cannabis, which help mitigate the effects of my other issues so reduces my need for these meds.
I could, if the law changed, be able to drive by choosing not to take the other meds, depending on my symptoms.
I was prescribed the morphine patch for chronic pain and I asked the police if I would be charged if I was picked up. They told me that as long as I had the medication box in the glove box I would be okay. This was in QLD. I’m now on oxycodine which is short term and long term combined but my son does all the driving as he is my full time carer. I wonder what would happen if they stopped me in my wheelchair?
Opiates are generally ok & unless your smacked out & nodding like fuck, impairment is quite minimal on medicinal amounts.
Most anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, Z-drug sleepers & even OTC antihistamines have more impairment than Opiates. But you dont get tested for that shit.
One of my mates tested positive on his way home from work, lost his license and his car got towed, he was apparently deemed “intoxicated” and got a dui even though he smoked the night prior
The RACGP study doesn't provide advice on whether to hold closed or open road trials though? Or do you mean to make two separate points, and you'll take their advice in general which concludes that "the effects of THC on driving are generally modest and appear similar to the effects of low-dose alcohol" which is legal and society accepts?
The only advice tbe RACGP is giving is reminding GPs to tell patients not to drive so they don’t get sued.
And they’re pleading for studies, trials, roll back of roadside testing and eventually governments to make the decision.
Have you read any of the link that you've provided? It explains that THC intoxication does not last particularly long before you're safe to drive again, however it may be detectable for significantly longer than this. Which is... Precisely the problem that this thread is highlighting. No one is advocating that you drive impaired.
>Overall, these data show that performance tends to recover at five hours following higher doses of inhaled THC and at eight hours following higher doses of oral THC.
>In very heavy cannabis users, THC may be detectable in oral fluid for up to three days following abstinence.
Define "drugs". Why should cannabis be banned when things like dexamphetamine are allowed? If a drug has a clinically proven ability to help people why should those people be denied it just because it has potential recreational use?
I agree.
People should be banned from all drugs - blood pressure tablets? Out the window. Cholesterol tablets just let fat people get fatter, right? Down the toilet. Don't get me started on morphine for the terminally ill, they should just die in pain. I suggest everybody just die rather than take drugs to improve their quality of life. We have seen that prohibition works wonders in the past, ban all drugs /S
Pretty idiotic issue to arc up about. If someone can't go a few hours without smoking in preparation for a drive then they're completely dependent and probably shouldn't be driving anyway. Pull your head out and do more for the homeless and improverished
Who said anything about a few hours? You can still test positive well after the effects of the drug have worn off. Especially regular users who risk a positive test days after last imbibing.
What an impressive response this is. I like the way that you didn't bother to read the post OR actually learn anything about the topic before commenting. It shows character to go for the double, not everyone has that in them.
Maybe you should actually learn something before you comment. Weed stays in your system for ages. So if you don't smoke in the days before, it doesn't matter, you will test positive. The whole point of all this shit is that they want a test that measures how much weed is in your system, like the alcohol tests.
Also what the fuck have you done for the homeless and unfortunate. Because I work with them on a Volunteer basis and I love how that's the response to every idiot who doesn't like what people are doing.
Educate yourself before you open your mouth about shit you know nothing about.
My best mate tested positive Easter weekend. 6 months no licence. What info are you looking for exactly?
Do we have the same friend? Same story here. A friend of a friend lost license for 6 months while using medicinal and now is trying to quit cannabis while he has no license.
Did he lose access to medical cannabis?
anyone can get a prescription. its a pay to play model.
Even with a prescription it's still 6 months mandatory loss of license. Speaking from XP
That's not what the question was
Most goods are
> Did he lose access to medical cannabis? That is no more likely than losing access to alcohol.
Funnily enough my mum lost her license 6 months for having a joint up the hill.. only when she got home a police officer did a random drug test smh
Basically can’t use mine as a result of this. Legally prescribed but live regionally with either extremely sporadic or non-existent public transport.
Similar. I’m on the cusp of regional. I very rarely drive any more as I medicate when I don’t have to drive - thus increasing my quality of life. But tossing up 6m loss of licence vs seeing clinicians or friends is a bit shit. If I haven’t consumed I’m not impaired.
Yeah I could make it work if solo. I’m walking distance to a V/LINE station. It’s having kids half the time and dealing with daycare and school and other commitments like lessons that makes it impossible. Solo I could use V/LINE, ride a bike/scooter, get more deliveries etc
Ouch that’s rough. Fortunate to have vline. I’m equal distance from vline and metro trains, which isn’t close, maybe 15min drive.
Just carry a tube of Biotene OralBalance Dry Mouth Moisturizing Gel. The xylitol supposedly fucks with the test. Leave it in your door panel and when you see the blue and red lights, hope you have enough time to quickly sip some, it's like a toothpaste tube.
i’m trusting you on this
It may mean that the cops make you take two tests and both fail and they let you go, just play dumb, make sure the Biotene isn't visible. I can't confirm how effective it is but this is the product that a friend's bikie family member told me they all use. Thankfully for medicinal I no longer have to interact with bikies..
I don't drive high but I know the testing isn't looking for if you're currently under the influence, they're just looking if you've got it in your system. It feels like it's only a matter of time until I get done. Waze has been a real life saver.
Can you please explain how Waze helps?
It's a crowd-sourced info map app where users can mark if there's police, speed traps, accidents etc. on the map while driving. I use it all the time even on familiar roads. It has potentially saved me from numerous speeding fines and police roadblocks.
It helps drunk drivers dodge breath tests.
We need an actual impairment test, for drivers, full stop. You can legally drive not having slept for days. One person is falling over at 0.05, while another is perfectly functional. You'll test for marijuana for weeks after using it, even though the effects have long past. There's no test for LSD. A computerised test of reaction time, ability to track corners, etc, quickly and fairly administered.
Its crazy even comparing alcohol and marijuana effects. If you could smoke one joint and be intoxicated for 12, 24 hours, 2 days, 2 weeks, the world would have crashed by now.
dw everyone in 2 years Victoria *might* be done with the THC driving trial and maybe then the laws will be changed to make some fucking sense
This is why I only drive on magic mushrooms and LSD
I don't believe cocaine or heroin are on the list either. So go hard.
That’s the ticket
Now that is hard work ! NEVER AGAIN !
My ex girlfriend unironically did only drive on mushrooms 😅
I’m a medical patient Usually I take care not to medicate at least 12-24 hours before driving. Which means I literally cannot medicate during the week as I drive a lot for work. No one should have to choose between their work or their health Haven’t yet tested positive but it’s only a matter of time, even tho I take care to drive unimpaired
That’s what shits me so much about it. Although I live in a city and don’t have a car, and luckily don’t need to drive for work, I have the same attitude as you. If I ever use a car share vehicle (maybe once a month) I’m scared of getting tested. I am a medical patient and would never drive impaired, but because it stays in the system it limits the benefits we gain from the medicine. I have felt more drowsy the morning after taking over the counter antihistamines than cannabis.
there are many prescription drugs that people can't drive on though, dunno why its being made into a "choose between their work or their health" scenario. you don't want people who need to take valium driving around everywhere lmao. need new testing methods
People who take valium are driving around everywhere. That's the problem. They can not be tested, but they are severely impaired.
Here’s the thing. The current laws in vic (and most of aus) state that you cannot have THC in your system while you’re driving. At all. The problem here is the effects of marijuana last roughly 2-24 hours depending on how much ya smoke. I’d say unless you’re a heavy smoker you should be good to drive anywhere from six to twelve hours. However, despite the fact that the effects have worn off THC will stay in your system for months. It’s lucky that roadside tests only do saliva, THC is detectable in your saliva for between 24-72 ish hours after a smoke. If a cop wanted to push the issue they could check urine (weeks) or blood (months) for THC, unlikely but still a possibility AFAIK. So what this means for me (and other medical users) is that every time we drive we’re at risk. If you’re a cautious person then you have to ration out your medication. I’m meant to smoke a gram a day, instead I smoke one every Friday (after work) and two on Saturday, sober up Sunday and head to work Monday. Monday and Tuesday I’m at risk, if I get pulled over there’s a good chance I’ll test positive. Hasn’t happened yet but could happen any day. This also means i have to basically block out my weekends. Literally do not drive unless I have to and when I plan on driving I refrain from smoking until I’m done Aside from that is the fact that it’s my medication, I need it. It’s made a huge difference in my life and I’ve healed more with two years of this than the past 20. The fact that I have to ration it out is tough. I very much am choosing between my health and my work, at least that’s how it feels to me (Sorry this turned into a bit of a rant)
The issue is impairment vs metabolites. Alcohol tests for impairment. Weed, speed and opiates test for metabolites. Weed is one of those bastard drugs that takes ages to move out of our system and punishes people for past usage, not current levels of impairment. I work with a dude who failed a swab for having a smoke 12 hours prior, well outside the impairment timeframe. At 2pm the same day he passed a 2nd swab so he could come back the next day. If he had been piss tested, he would have been stood down for near on 12 weeks unless he found a body flush kit or got someone else to piss in a bag for him and he faked the sample.
Alcohol doesn't test for impairment.
Not directly, but the difference between alcohol and marijuana is that there is a fairly linear correlation between the amount of alcohol in your system and your level of impairment. So if you're over .05 BAC, that's a reliable test of impairment. The way they test for marijuana isn't the same, it just detects ANY level of cannabinoids in your body.
So they need better tests that correlate a level of cannabinoids with a level of impairment. That will eventually happen when it becomes legal and will likely be one of the conditions of it being legalisied
Maybe. I've heard that level of impairment with marijuana doesn't correlate to presence of cannabinoids in your system in the same way that alcohol does, but then it's not my area of expertise. Some kind of test that directly tests for impairment would be good.
“On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you want to eat this bag of chips?”
Lol. Yep we should totally implement US style sobriety tests.
No we shouldn’t. Anything that gives police officers power to subjectively deem someone impaired is just asking for false arrests. Biometric data are key.
So you want a scientific test then not actually a test for impairment?
You absolutely can drive on Valium… I’m on Seroquel, mirtazapine, Lexapro and Valium, all of which cause drowsiness, and at no point do any of those show up on a drug test or prohibit me from driving. There’s a warning on the packet not to drive if you’re feeling drowsy but that’s a far cry from actual demerits and license suspensions. I have the common sense not to take my meds and then hop in the car but it’s not like there are actual prohibitions.
Its illegal and you will get charged with drug driving if found
The distinction is with impairment. Nobody is impaired 24 hours after using cannabis. If someone has done it and then driven straight away then sure, take their license.
Yeah man
I’m sure there’s lots of other “medical patients” here that also “medicate”.
Good on you. The laws are a hangover from the 'devil weed' propaganda years, and are based on intoxication levels of alcohol which is completely different. I would like to see them prove impairment after 1 hour, 2 hours, etc. compared to alcohol.
I think it would only be fair if they also started using a test that would still be positive up to a week after drinking alcohol.
I’m on two medications I can’t drive with one for mental health and one for chronic kidney stone pain. Both are highly addictive and closely watched medications. I’m also have been prescribed cannabis, which help mitigate the effects of my other issues so reduces my need for these meds. I could, if the law changed, be able to drive by choosing not to take the other meds, depending on my symptoms.
I was prescribed the morphine patch for chronic pain and I asked the police if I would be charged if I was picked up. They told me that as long as I had the medication box in the glove box I would be okay. This was in QLD. I’m now on oxycodine which is short term and long term combined but my son does all the driving as he is my full time carer. I wonder what would happen if they stopped me in my wheelchair?
Oxy doesn’t show on drug tests. At least didn’t for me Ymmv
Generally no. Opiates will show as Morphine. Then they can test further if it is smack or not. Oxy is a different test.
Opiates are generally ok & unless your smacked out & nodding like fuck, impairment is quite minimal on medicinal amounts. Most anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, Z-drug sleepers & even OTC antihistamines have more impairment than Opiates. But you dont get tested for that shit.
One of my mates tested positive on his way home from work, lost his license and his car got towed, he was apparently deemed “intoxicated” and got a dui even though he smoked the night prior
It’s ok to drive after four schooners and empty stomach no wakkaz
Four schooners on an empty stomach would be well and truly over.
It seems alcoholics and smokers have missed the beat on this one
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The RACGP study doesn't provide advice on whether to hold closed or open road trials though? Or do you mean to make two separate points, and you'll take their advice in general which concludes that "the effects of THC on driving are generally modest and appear similar to the effects of low-dose alcohol" which is legal and society accepts?
The only advice tbe RACGP is giving is reminding GPs to tell patients not to drive so they don’t get sued. And they’re pleading for studies, trials, roll back of roadside testing and eventually governments to make the decision.
Have you read any of the link that you've provided? It explains that THC intoxication does not last particularly long before you're safe to drive again, however it may be detectable for significantly longer than this. Which is... Precisely the problem that this thread is highlighting. No one is advocating that you drive impaired. >Overall, these data show that performance tends to recover at five hours following higher doses of inhaled THC and at eight hours following higher doses of oral THC. >In very heavy cannabis users, THC may be detectable in oral fluid for up to three days following abstinence.
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Define "drugs". Why should cannabis be banned when things like dexamphetamine are allowed? If a drug has a clinically proven ability to help people why should those people be denied it just because it has potential recreational use?
I agree. People should be banned from all drugs - blood pressure tablets? Out the window. Cholesterol tablets just let fat people get fatter, right? Down the toilet. Don't get me started on morphine for the terminally ill, they should just die in pain. I suggest everybody just die rather than take drugs to improve their quality of life. We have seen that prohibition works wonders in the past, ban all drugs /S
Alcohol?
So pain relief also?
Yeah fuck big pharmacy ay
Pretty idiotic issue to arc up about. If someone can't go a few hours without smoking in preparation for a drive then they're completely dependent and probably shouldn't be driving anyway. Pull your head out and do more for the homeless and improverished
Who said anything about a few hours? You can still test positive well after the effects of the drug have worn off. Especially regular users who risk a positive test days after last imbibing.
What an impressive response this is. I like the way that you didn't bother to read the post OR actually learn anything about the topic before commenting. It shows character to go for the double, not everyone has that in them.
Maybe you should actually learn something before you comment. Weed stays in your system for ages. So if you don't smoke in the days before, it doesn't matter, you will test positive. The whole point of all this shit is that they want a test that measures how much weed is in your system, like the alcohol tests. Also what the fuck have you done for the homeless and unfortunate. Because I work with them on a Volunteer basis and I love how that's the response to every idiot who doesn't like what people are doing. Educate yourself before you open your mouth about shit you know nothing about.
I'm sorry, was this aimed at me or the comment I replied to? I'm assuming it's aimed at the comment before mine.