One of the biggest culture shocks as a Danish person visiting California, was seeing how normalised driving high was. I smoke pretty regularly, but I would never even think about getting behind the wheel after a single puff.

I totally believe police sincerely think they can tell based on experience, but it's false confidence.

Story time: One night on my way home I was pulled over for a broken taillight, which I truthfully told the officer I wasn't aware of. After taking another look she gave me a warning but said, with a little lilt in her voice, "Lotta dust in there, looks like it's been broken for a while... surprised you haven't noticed it." As if she "knew" I was lying, because cops have heard it all before.

I really wanted to unload on her that I was on my way home from working at my job and then taking my shift sitting in the hospital room keeping my 10-year-old daughter company until she fell asleep. She had been undergoing cancer treatments for the last 2 months. So excuse the hell outta me but there were a lot of things I'd missed lately. Like Thanksgiving. And Christmas. And apparently a broken taillight. I'll get to it when I get to it but I can't make any promises.

That smirky little accusing tone of voice still sticks with me after 20 years. So fuck your smug-ass attitude, Officer I Know What I Know, because no you sure as fucking hell didn't.

I've only been too high to drive once. And you know what? I didn't drive. I was too high.

Sir, your skin is too dark to drive

As virtually anyone who has ever been to college knows: they can't.

ah yes, the police. the people with a reputation for always properly assessing every situation

Drunk driving is a legitimate concern. High driving, despite the vilifying by police, simply doesn't have even a modest fraction of the stats to back it up. And anecdotally is not remotely the same as alcohol.

Elderly driving is the conversation we don't apparently want to have. Just because Gamgam can still get around on her own, in the house she's lived in for 40 years, does NOT make her capable of driving a two ton piece of metal.

Their reaction speed is like a drunk person. Their decision making skills, also akin to drunk people. Elderly drivers injure and/or kill pedestrians and drivers every year, and we're supposed to be OK with it because they're old? Fuck no. They should be tested every year if they still want to drive, and losing their license means losing their vehicle too.

I think a DRE with a doctorate can tell for sure.

Stoned folks will drive straighter than an arrow at slower speeds. They are safer than an asswipe glued to their Galaxy or iPhone.

Cobb County Police in Georgia got some bad press for this a few years back. An officer took a weekend course to certify he could tell when people were drunk or high, and then he ruined a bunch of innocent people’s lives.

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/investigations/the-drug-whisperer-drivers-arrested-while-stone-cold-sober/85-437061710

Oh then they can come back with a fucking warrant like any other “we can tell you committed a crime”

if a police is saying something, that police is lying

We give someone with a high school diploma a few weeks of training a badge and a gun. They don't even have to fully understand the law.

And now they can tell if you're high or not from first sight.

I mean, so can I in a sense -- guys passed out on my couch. "Yup, he's too high to drive."

In seriousness, I wish they'd just bust people driving recklessly. It's almost every day now that I'm almost side swiped by an aggressive muscle car driver; it's driving me crazy. I don't care what they're on, alcohol, cocaine, meth, or just pure uncut Machismo, I need those people fucking jailed before it's my kid on the news about getting hit and run'd.

The police are legally allowed to lie about everything not under oath or not to another public servant. It is one reason to never bother with their polygraph. They lie about the results, and then act like their lie is proof.

They lie to the press all the time about officers names, ages, and whereabouts. It is their reflex to just lie and worry about it later.

Even breathalyzer are less reliable than the police would dare admit.

i have witnessed 100% sober drivers, blowing zero on a breathalyzer being arrested because the cops felt like it. anyone else failing so hard at their jobs would be fired, and these people are supposed to be trusted with extra responsibilities and human killing devices.

acab

Nobody (especially pharmaceutical corporations) ever wants to talk about prescription mind altering medications and how normalized its become to be heavily medicated and still drive a vehicle on the highway. I've run into people in public at grocery stores and restaurants who obviously have had way too much medication and are literal zombies or wide eyed freaks then get into a car and drive away.

This isn't shaming anyone for taking medication. It's a good thing in the right circumstances but if someone has taken so much that it affects their ability to react to things quickly while operating a vehicle, it's definitely something to worry about. It's something I think about all the time when I'm driving down a public highway anywhere.