Sorry stoners...

OK, but what does this have to do with the OP stating that FMCSA is going to keep testing for marijuana even though it's been legalized in many states? Is your point that it's unfair so we should stop testing drivers for marijuana use?

My "ignorant stereotype" is based on literally decades of experience and close contact with chronic pot smokers in my family and at work and elsewhere. Not that it matters for this particular discussion, but I also have extended family members who have died from chronic alcoholism. The OP is specifically about marijuana, but like most potheads, you want to redirect the conversation to alcoholics instead of admitting that chronic users of marijuana should be disqualified from driving CMVs because they are chronically impaired. None of them should be allowed to drive a CMV.

Actually, I am personally in favor of legalization because the "War on Drugs" was a disaster that militarized local police and funded all kinds of chicanery by unaccountable spy agencies. But in this thread, we were talking specifically about federal testing for marijuana for drivers of commercial motor vehicles, so it does matter what the feds say. I don't know what the rest of your comment about workarounds means, frankly.

Here's the deal: Over a long period of time with many thousands of specific examples, regulators and lawmakers noticed that there was a pattern involved with fatal accidents involving CMVs. This pattern included the use of certain drugs, including but not limited to marijuana. Way back in the 70s and 80s, there were all kinds of horrific truck wrecks that killed a lot of innocent motorists and caused an outcry by citizens (at least this is how the politicians would tell the story), so testing protocols were devised to try to prevent drug users from being allowed to drive trucks. I support those testing protocols. I do not want to share the roads with truck drivers who smoke marijuana or use certain other drugs or alcohol on a regular basis.

If you have a better method to detect actual impairment that will prevent horrific truck wrecks that kill women and children, by all means, call your congressman! I don't think you will find much support for repealing these regulations altogether solely because it discriminates against impaired drug abusers because whatever they do on their personal time is their business, but I have been wrong before. The entire society around me has become utterly degenerate, so not much surprises me these days.

 

He’s woke as heck . His comments a few years ago made Trudeau look like choirboy

 

I have to laugh at this. Many moons ago when I was in high school a friend did just that.
We sat at a stop sign for at least 20 min before anyone in the car realized we were just sitting there.
Someone finally asked her what she was doing and she quietly replied " waiting for the sign to change to green"

The laughter was great till we got a few miles out of town and she ran off the road hitting what we called the Gap Rocks. There more like boulders on the outside of a turn that she just happend to forget to use the brakes while trying to slow down.
Fortunately we all walked away with minor injuries but surveying the damage it was more of a miracle that we did.

 

Here's the question I would have to ask myself: was it really 20 minutes, or did it just seem like it?

 

Wonder if chewing cocoa leaves could be a thing ? Natives in mountain regions of south america use it they dont fall off or tumble down the mountains . Just thinking outloud so to speak .

 

I honestly can't say but was definitely a long time. Not a 1 min long time but long enough to eat a slice of pizza, pull you bag out and roll an other joint kind of time frame.

 

No matter what chemical is used to alter ones state of mind, legal or illegal, if it involves a safety sensitive occupation one has to err on the side of caution.

There are many legal prescription drugs that cannot be used by a CDL holder, sometimes with almost no time limits before going on duty.

The only reason these things(marijuana, alcohol, etc) are legal is a majority of voters in a given jurisdiction decided to make them legal.

It was never a case of superior knowledge, or science or any other criteria.

 

I agree with this. I wonder why alcohol is being essentially ignored. I used to take a breath test any time a urinalysis was required. Now, it's practically non-existent. Alcohol is sold at most truck stops now too. It's just as bad as any other drug. Some might say it's worse now that it's getting a free pass. More people are drinking than ever before since the testing is so laxed these days.