Pubdate: Fri, 17 Nov 2017
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Page: 14

GOVERN YOUR OWN POT BEHAVIOUR

Be smart. Not stupid.

As we travel down the road to pot legalization in Canada, provincial
governments across the country are scrambling to update a number of
laws, including impaired driving rules.

Here in Alberta, the government has announced its changes to
impaired-driving legislation.

The NDs plan to impose a maximum $1,000 fine for a positive blood test
of two to five nanograms per millimetre of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
along with a minimum $1,000 fine for a first-time conviction on a
reading above five.

Already, lawyers are poised to fight the legislation. Quite rightly,
just like with alcohol, they say an individuals' tolerance to cannabis
and THC is different.

THC can even be detected in the bloodstream a month after it is
ingested.

Add to that the reality there is still no adequate roadside testing in
Canada (among other problems), and you have what is known as a legal
minefield.

As Bill Kaufmann pointed out in Thursday's Sun, officials in the state
of Colorado are still trying to figure out the true extent of traffic
carnage since the legalization of marijuana four years ago.

A report last August in the Denver Post showed that from 2013-16, the
number of drivers who tested positive in fatal crashes went up by 145%.

But the powerful marijuana lobby contends that 36% of drivers involved
in fatal crashes in 2016 had both THC AND alcohol in their
bloodstreams.

For starters, dare we point out that two wrongs still don't make a
right.

The conversation around potentially driving after toking up - or after
a few drinks - needs to be taken in a different direction, rather than
one about potentially faulty legislation.

It should be about your own personal moral decisions.

Impaired driving is stupid. Just damn dumb.

If Albertans need laws and restrictions to stop them from doing it,
well, we still haven't learned much.

Having a good time with a drink or a smoke will always remain a choice
issue.

And when cannabis becomes legalized in 2018, there will certainly be
less societal frowning on the ingestion of wacky tobacky.

But all of us should understand that our personal choices have
consequences.

Before climbing behind the wheel, it is important you have made the
right choice - impaired driving is still impaired driving. You
endanger yourself and others.

And that should not be acceptable to anyone.
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MAP posted-by: Matt