Should we be able to use cannabis on our time off?

Time to put the cocaine back in Coca-Cola.

 

So lets add this one drug to the list of those things that affect cognition and coordination to drivers of semi-trucks? And unless this one magic drug is the worst impairment to cognition and coordination or unless the drug use culture in trucking today is worse than the drug use culture in the 1970s we shouldn't oppose it today?

Use of weed isn't allowed now for those in safety-sensitive DOT regulated jobs and there is no good reason to make it allowable other than some dope smokers value getting high above things like keeping a job or avoiding accidents. Allowing the use of more intoxicants to those in safety-sensitive jobs makes no sense.

 

The average pot smoker isnt someone to be feared like all these commenters seam to think, not everyone spends every waking hour burnt out of their minds, plenty are just burning one at the end of the day istead of having a couple beers to decompress and relax.

These days Marijuana use is mainstream and there are so many jobs that dont drug test the uses go find somewhere else. That eliminates a huge portion of potential drivers from the hiring base who have a good chance of being better than the current crop of flip flop wearing steering wheel holders we have on the road tearing stuff up now.

Has anyone worked in an industry that does regular drug testing and seen what happens? The place ends up filled with junkies. The guys doing heroine etc already know how to cheat the test, the potheads just go find somewhere else to work.

Im not saying all pot smokers are going to be safe, or that truck drivers should all start smoking, but eliminating 20-30% of the population from driving a truck is a big part of the current state of "hiring anyone that can fog a mirror" fiasco we have now.

Imagine if drinking alcohol would show up in your system for months like the current testing system does with mariijuana, i bet half the current drivers would be gone, or atleast furious the government is telling them what to do with their bodies.

 

I have to agree that alcoholics are far worse than potheads and we have TONS of them in our industry.

 

Ya, there is some crazy stereotypical thought processes going on in this thread.

I reckon since I see drunk people pukin' and pissin' and crappin' all over themselves, that EVERYONE who drinks even one beer is a stinking alcoholic that pukes and pisses and craps all over themselves.

 

You don't have to think dope smokers are laying in the gutter or violent fiends stabbing random people or sitting in a chair and hallucinating to keep pot from being more widely used by people with safety sensitive jobs. Nobody gets more disciplined & responsible while using drugs. The society is declining as the slackers get more slack & the excuse makers make more excuses for bad behavior.

 

I think we all can agree driving impaired is a bad thing waiting to happen.

Hate to say it, but how many accidents happen alcohol versus cannabis?

I'm with the crowd, what you do on your off time is your business. if your sober when you return to duty then roll on.

Also, just because THC stick around in your system for x amount of time doesn't mean it impairs your ability to do whatever hours, days, weeks down the road once the effect wears off.

Plus a cannabis user will wait for the stop sign to turn green while a drunk runs it.

Fun fact, meth stays in your system for... 3 days IRRC.

Just my thoughts

 

Or what they think is 0.00

 

If you volunteer to put career-ending levels of THC into your blood for 30 days, knowing you are in an industry which makes you subject to a random or post-crash test, you should get the boot for low IQ. Nobody has to believe that the levels of THC detectable for the next 30 days equals driver impairment or driver intoxication. Switch the example. If alcohol was detectable for 30 days after you last had a beer and you were subject to random and post-crash testing for alcohol you would have to be a fool to drink beer and use your CDL. Every day you go to work in a big truck you go to work knowing you are subject to tests and you freely choose to use what's on the prohibited list. Why do people think expressing their disagreement with the rules changes ANYTHING? Until the rules change disagreeing with the rules is as significant as your opinion about the date on the calendar. Maybe the rules change someday, maybe they don't. If you volunteer to lose your job and your CDL for a little weed, you chose the consequences. If I were to eat myself into diabetes or heart disease and lose my CDL, would my disagreeing with the medical exam save me from losing my CDL? What if I REALLY, REALLY disagreed with the exam results? Does that reinstate my CDL? What if I knew another driver and he also REALLY disagreed with even requiring a medical exam for CDL drivers, does that save my CDL or give me a way to make money once I lose my CDL?

Crying about this rule won't save you from the consequences of breaking the rule. It is what it is. You don't have to agree with a rule to face the consequences. Disagreeing with the rule won't prevent the consequences of breaking it. Maybe the demotivating effects of using weed have consequences like not being able to get weed removed from the list of prohibited substances because the users would rather complain and smoke than change the rule. We don't need more careless drivers on the road. Nobody would recommend using weed before some very important test with life or death consequences.