Mother loses son to a driver high on pot

[SHRED]

Last edited Thu Oct 6, 2016, 12:38 PM - Edit history (2)

This heartbreak occurred in 2010 but is just coming out now because of the California proposition to make cannabis legal. Election year politics.

This is sickening.
Absolutely the worst kind of anti-cannabis propaganda. What kind of newsroom takes advantage of a tragedy like this? Rightwing KFMB San Diego that's who.

http://www.cbs8.com/story/33328072/mother-loses-son-to-a-driver-high-on-pot




On edit...finding THC metabolites in urine or blood is NOT an indicator of impairment. Also note that the grieving mother claimed the driver didn't remember what was going on 2 days before, and 2 weeks after, the accident insinuating cannabis caused that. I call bullshit.

And another point...until we get some objective peer reviewed scientific studies that can prove any negative affects of driving while under the influence of cannabis let's not assume. We also need a way to test, real-time, cannabis intoxication should it be proven. Neither of these things have happened yet as far as I know.

[marble falls]

1. Bullshit is the right call!!!

[Ron Obvious]

2. I agree -- bullshit

THC stays in the system for a long time past impairment and usually causes people to drive more slowly than otherwise.

And really now -- they've found one case. Just about how many deaths are there because of alcohol impairment? Or prescription drugs? These things shouldn't be taken in a vacuum in any case.

[ghostsinthemachine]

3. Absolute bullshit

Propaganda.

[SHRED]

4. And coincidentally...

...there is no "comments" section for this hit piece.

[loyalsister]

5. There are probably cases of drunk driving

where the driver was drunk but that isn't what caused the accident. Would calling that anti-alcohol propaganda in defense of marketing make a strong argument? Probably not.
There was an accident and the driver had pot in his system. So, what? Defensiveness and pretending it can't possibly be relevant does not boost the pro argument.

[SHRED]

7. Lots of assumption here

I think first there needs to be credible scientific proof that cannabis impairs driving then we can go from there.

Also...remember...cannabis THC metabolites in the blood and urine do not indicate under the influence. They are markers that it was consumed sometime in the past days and that is all.

[loyalsister]

10. I just don't get the defensiveness

It comes across as extremely callous to complain that this is going to spoil a personal agenda when someone has lost a son.

[MindPilot]

17. No; extremely callous is using the death of your son to perpetuate propaganda.

Especially when that particular piece of propaganda is complete fantasy, and exists only to satisfy an authoritarian police state.

[Moostache]

6. Legal Cannabis is not in jeopardy because of this...

It is in jeopardy because of the financial interests the police and the prison industrial complex have in maintaining its illegal status and perpetuating the "war on Drugs". Their supporters and benefactors stand to lose BILLIONS on the current glide path and THAT is why you get shit stories from 6 years ago brought forth.

I bet if you looked hard enough, long enough, you could find a grieving mother to interview and tell you all about the time that she lost a child to a bolt of lightning too.

These state level initiatives are a nice step forward, but until the nation calls off the dogs on the drug war and instead focuses on prevention and treatment instead of prohibition and incarceration, the overall picture remains bleak.

We need an equal protection lawsuit to force national legalization (just as marriage rights finally received with the SCOTUS ruling making it the law of the land), then we can start a real dialog on just how to wind down the drug war, reform the police, prisons and judiciary and finally get beyond one of the darkest and most criminally oppressive ideas in human history.

[SHRED]

8. I'll bet this story...

...got published due to funding from what you posted.

Just a hunch.

[CanSocDem]

12. And you are re-publishing...

...in some sense, doing their work for them.

It doesn't help 'the cause' to bring a bullshit story to the masses just so we can call 'bullshit'.

There is an important discussion to be had in this age of legal pot. Stories like this "poison the well", but it serves the interests of the well intentioned folk of DU, giving the 'headline reading brigade' more misinformation.

How does it feel to know that every time you get behind the wheel, the slightest mistake will make you an "impaired driver"? Pot license or not....


.

[SHRED]

13. I think if your logic was applied across the board here

Many posts wouldn't occur on the DU.

[CanSocDem]

14. Then let it be...

This forum serves a community of 'progressives' inclined to promote the public interest. I only care because it is an issue close to my heart. I am one of those old hippies who will probably test positive for pot for as long as I live. But I love to drive so there is never a time when I drive that I don't have pot in my system(or in my hand).

I object to people suggesting I'm impaired.

Posting outrageous headlines attracts the National Enquirer reader. And they would rather believe anything that didn't require them to think too hard.


.

[SHRED]

15. Point taken

Thanks for your thoughts.

[MindPilot]

19. I'll bet our local anti-cannibis activist, Scott Chipman has something to do with it.

He's everywhere, it seems like.

[MindPilot]

18. That is exactly how alcohol prohibition ended.

States made medical alcohol legal, then recreational, and finally the federal government got on board.

[OregonBlue]

11. This is one case in 2010. What about the daily cases of teens killed by other teen drunk drivers or

adult drunk drivers. There is absolutely no comparison.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

16. Those kinds of stories don't make alcohol illegal.

I personally don't like marijuana (at least the stuff that I tried years ago), but I think most people like me are sick of it being illegal.

[Moostache]

20. Someone remind me how many kids kil kids with guns a year?

Pot, no pot...impaired or sober....test + or test -....my only point is that the reason thesee stories are effective is the refusal of society to be rational.

Ad with ONE death runs against cannabis legalization and the pearl clutch brigade tsk-tsk's the movement as wide-eyed crazies...I wish we were a society so overcome with concern when it comes to guns...