Metro News: Is cannabis really a culprit?

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Hurray! Yesterday I sent an email to the Metro newspaper, and it was published! This newspaper is read by approximately 1.867.000 people.

The online version of today's edition can be found here: http://www.readmetro.com/editions.php?lang=en

Dutch folks, it's on page 8 ("Opinions"), below the cartoons. The Metro editors added a title to my message: "Is cannabis echt een boosdoener?" ("Is cannabis really a culprit?") and printed the first sentence in large blue letters, as you can see in the attached image.

It was in response to the plans of our government to introduce saliva tests for use of cannabis in traffic.

Here is a translation of the email, and below that the Dutch version.

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Let the government first prove that the use of cannabis (by itself, not in combination with alcohol or other drugs) truly influences driving skills in a negative way. Let them conduct a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study, looking at the immediate effects and those occuring at different time intervals after smoking a joint. How many accidents took place in recent years in which only cannabis was involved? These are questions that must be answered first before anyone can be fined for using a certain herb. That you get a fine for driving too fast or under the influence of alcohol is reasonable, because we all know that these things increase the risk of lethal accidents. We don't know whether cannabis does that as well. Tests conducted in other countries couldn't determine a negative influence on the eventual driving behavior. So how dare these politicans invest tax money into the development of saliva tests rather than first subsidize a couple of simple driving tests?

Ivar Verploegh, Woerden
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Laat de regering eerst bewijzen dat het gebruik van cannabis (en dan
niet in combinatie met alcohol of andere drugs) werkelijk de
rijvaardigheid nadelig beïnvloedt. Laat ze een gerandomiseerd,
dubbelblind, placebo-gecontroleerd onderzoek uitvoeren, waarbij
gekeken wordt naar de effecten vlak na het roken van een joint, en
enkele tijdsintervallen erna. Hoeveel ongelukken waren er de afgelopen
jaren waarbij uitsluitend cannabis betrokken was? Dit zijn
vraagstukken die eerst beantwoord moet worden voordat er boetes
uitgedeeld kunnen worden voor het gebruik van een bepaald kruid. Dat
je voor te hard rijden of met alcohol op achter het stuur zitten een
boete krijgt is terecht, want we weten dat deze zaken de kans op
dodelijke ongelukken verhogen. Van cannabisgebruik weten we dat niet.
Tests uit het buitenland konden geen nadelige invloed op het
uiteindelijke rijgedrag aantonen. Hoe halen onze politici het dus in
hun hoofd om belastinggeld te investeren in de ontwikkeling van
speekseltests in plaats van eerst een paar simpele verkeerstesten te
subsidiëren?

Ivar Verploegh, Woerden
----

 

[afer]

Wow!! An excellent input here, and it's published! Something is happening for sure..
Very nice work, Caduceus

 

[Affirmatory]

rayer:

Well done.

 

[mrvn]

+10 CM!!!

Really great that this is published.

guess I got high, lol.

 

[Psyolopher]

rayer:

Well done.

+1 There is hope!

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

guess I got high, lol.

I have considered it (entering politics), but I'm not ready for that kind of mundane responsibility. My knowledge of political jargon and financial terminology is limited, and I have some dictatorial tendencies. If however I do rise to power, it will most likely occur 7 to 8 years from now, when I'll be around 42 years old.

So if the world doesn't end in 2012, I'll give it a try in 2017, ok? :wink:

 

[Twilight]

Nice Ivar.

But I'd rather have no drugs at all in traffic.
It's just always a bit risky. But the way they are prohibiting this use and still have a legal limit for alcohol isn't correct either.

I once drove my car the morning after a high evening with a lot of weed and I didn't really felt good about it. I made the decision to never smoke the evening before a day I have to get up early and drive.

But I agree on the part that they first should do their research.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

I once drove my car the morning after a high evening with a lot of weed and I didn't really felt good about it. I made the decision to never smoke the evening before a day I have to get up early and drive.

The way you put it makes me wonder: how early did you have to get up and how many hours did you sleep that particular night? I believe a lack of sleep has a much more negative impact on driving skills than THC. Though there may be some subtle aftereffects, one generally returns to baseline only three hours after smoking, while a good night's sleep is about seven to eight hours.

 

[Twilight]

I had a fair amount of sleep. Definitely not a lack of sleep.
And I did feel a bit tired, but I always feel a bit tired in the morning. But I clearly felt some subtle after effects of cannabis.

Thanks for that time definition. I've been in the dark about the duration of the cannabis high for some time, I couldn't really find it anywhere. :?

 

[Psychoid]

I find that if I smoke a lot of weed I need more sleep time to recover, like 9-10 hours sometimes.

 

[Jeniger]

great!

 

[HeartCore]

I have considered it (entering politics), but I'm not ready for that kind of mundane responsibility. My knowledge of political jargon and financial terminology is limited, and I have some dictatorial tendencies. If however I do rise to power, it will most likely occur 7 to 8 years from now, when I'll be around 42 years old.

So if the world doesn't end in 2012, I'll give it a try in 2017, ok? :wink:

First off, very nice article, thumbs up!

Secondly, there are mostly ass holes in politics.

Please don't become one

 

[Psychoid]

I have ADDH and cannabis makes my concentration better. I drive better when I'm stoned than if I haven't smoked for a month.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Secondly, there are mostly ass holes in politics.

Please don't become one

Heh, agreed. Though I think these people became assholes early in their lives (because of their education, religion and chosen career) rather than through political engagement itself.