Thomas Mitchell
Audio By Carbonatix
Thomas Mitchell
Although it’s never a good idea to smoke weed in front of a police officer, let alone get behind the wheel right after – that’s exactly what people were doing with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office earlier this month.
During this truly unique event, Adams County sheriff’s deputies invited participants to drink beers, smoke joints and then test their driving skills in order to determine how impaired they really were. The challenge was the brainchild of cannabis consulting firm Dacorum Strategies, which partnered with the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, Lyft and Colorado NORML to raise awareness about driving while impaired.
Readers had no problem operating their keyboards and phones to comment on the issue.
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Says Angela:
Participants were then booked into Adams County Jail on charges of driving under the influence.
Adds Scott:
Fair thing to try in an actual car, and good on the cops for allowing it to happen. Maybe it opened up a few people’s eyes, since telling them about impaired driving doesn’t seem to make a dent.
Responds Matt:
I bet I do better stoned than sober, but they would never allow those results to be known, now would they?
Counters Mark:
It all depends on the type of person. A disciplined person would drive good stoned or drunk or both. An undisciplined mind would mess up more often. The structure of that kind of testing is not scientific and is flawed. In the end, it’s a going to be a prevailing political agenda that makes the findings.
But John concludes:
Good training for the officers, and, hopefully, more awareness for the participants. Also those reading this, please!
Keep reading for more on this exercise, as well as our coverage of driving while smoking. Thomas Mitchell
“Drinking Beer, Toking Up and Driving With Adams County Deputies” Shutterstock.com “New CDOT Campaign Wants Your Opinions on Stoned Driving” Anthony Camera “Driving-While-Stoned Cases Are a Hazy Area of Colorado Law” During the Adams County test, texting drivers performed the worst on the course, hitting the most cones while driving. They were followed by cannabis users, then alcohol drinkers. But cannabis users passed most of their initial roadside impairment tests by sheriff deputies, while alcohol users routinely failed them despite having performing better on the driving course. What do you think about this test? About driving after consuming cannabis in general? Post a comment or email your thoughts to marijuana@westword.com.
