Medical Cannabis and Driving

[MindSoup]

Been hearing a bit of mixed information of late and thought I'd see if you guys could shed some light. 

 

Some people I've spoken to have told me that if I get a medical prescription I can drive my car and that if I get pulled over and fail a swab test that everything will be fine. But I've also heard some stories that people have had their licence revoked simply by informing the DVLA about their condition and their use of medical cannabis. 

 

So what's the bottom line here? Am I any safer from getting my license taken off me if I shell out for a private script? Or am I endangering myself even further by trying to obey the law? 

 

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I lost my license, but at the same time I don't know what I'd do without sweet Mary Jane. 

[handysmoker]

Yeah, I would go with @Fatboy77 ... they won't do a separation, you're still under the influence. best to be safe than sorry.

[MindSoup]

But I can legally drive on opioids and other prescription drugs? Or am I wrong about that as well? 

 

Been ages since I even had anything from the doctor, but all I can remember reading is something about not driving if it made me feel drowsy.

 

Obviously it has no real relevance to the law but I can drive quite safely after a smoke or 2, this had been confirmed many times by passengers in my car, in fact I passed my driving test while I was high. But even on a small dose of codeine I can barely walk straight let alone operate a vehicle. 

 

TBH the only reason I would ever bother getting a script would be if it protected me in some way from some form of persecution, I'd always prefer to grow my own anyway, but at the moment all it seems to protect you from is personal possession which only gets you a caution anyway?? It really does appear that the only reason they changed the law is so they could make a shit load of money off of sick people. 

[Saddam]

Just now, MindSoup said:

But I can legally drive on opioids and other prescription drugs?

 

Yep but if you exceed the legal limit then it's a day out with the magistrate. Load of shit really, you can drive with <1000 µg/L of temazepam in your system which is quite a lot of temaze whereas you can only legally drive with <2µg/L THC in your system, which is basically fuck all.

A prescription only really helps you get out of a possession charge but it's definitely better than being caught in possession without a prescription.

[twigs]

yeah save your money for now dude, any uk cop will get a hard on and throw the book at you until they change the law regarding road side driving fitness tests in the uk

[DeltaMelter]

Yes you can drive, no you can't drive impaired - like @Fatboy77 says it doesn't matter what the substance is.

 

Who gets to decide if you are impaired though? The doc might say "don't drive if you feel impaired" but the cops will just look at THC in blood == busted. This bothers me as I would probably fail a test even if I hadn't smoked in ages.

 

AFAIK there isn't really a "legal" limit to THC in your blood (unlike alcohol its ridiculously tiny) so I would wager that having any in your blood would mean you were screwed.

 

It would need a pretty big change and a few important court cases to change that anytime soon. It puts me off a script as I'm "on the list" from then on and y'know.....governments and all that.

 

Edit: Saddam beat me to it! <2µg/L  FFS!

Edited May 15, 2023 by DeltaMelter

[MindSoup]

@Fatboy77 I think we've all done stupid things like that in our youth, definitely been on cars when the driver was tripping, like you say a terrible, wreckless and irresponsible idea, but at the time I thought it was hilarious .

 

@Saddam Yeah ok, I had assumed there must be some leniency as otherwise it would be all over the packaging/the doctor would surely tell you when they wrote out the script. But like you say the threshold for cannabis is still insanely low, guess I'll just have to be careful.At least they're not going to take my license away just for having a script though, that was my main worry.

 

I used to drive all the time with a joint on the go, but as I've gotten older I've gotten a fair bit more cautious about that sort of thing, I live in the sticks so a driving ban would really fuck me over. 

 

Like you say it still helps if I'm caught in possession, but I've still never even had a street caution, so no need to worry just yet. 

[Military Grade]

seen a few people on here mentioned in the past that when they told their docter they use cannabis they then got a letter from the DVLA saying their licence has been suspended or something like that.

[MindSoup]

@twigs like you say I definitely won't be getting one any time soon if all it would protect me from is my 1st strike (street caution). 

 

@DeltaMelter I see what your saying there. TBF I would happily do an old school field sobriety test and if I truly was too impaired to drive I'd take the punishment on the chin, but even If I had a week off I doubt my blood levels would be low enough for their BS blood/swab tests. 

 

Having lived in NZ I still hear bits and bobs from old friends etc and apparently they're making some big changes to all this stuff over there. They've finally managed to figure out that with most drugs (but particularly cannabis) the levels found in the blood don't have a direct relationship with someone's level of impairment due to varying levels of tolerance.

Edited May 15, 2023 by MindSoup

[MindSoup]

Just now, Military Grade said:

seen a few people on here mentioned in the past that when they told their docter they use cannabis they then got a letter from the DVLA saying their licence has been suspended or something like that.

Yeah that's what I'm referring too, it scared the crap out of me TBH. It's a real hurdle for the legalisation movement as well, we need as many people as possible to tell their doctor about how much weed is helping them, but obviously it's not worth the potential consequences. 

[gb1]

no test out there that will say how much thc is in you....not easily received..that is for sure

THEY SET A Limit here of 8 ng per liter of blood

but there isnt a test in canadah that will tell any cop in less than 4hours let along 4weeks..

so it wont work for court

and anyone who gets a ticket is happy to just pay it... instead of an impaired ....so they THINK THEY COULD get..

its a farce!

hasnt been an impaired charge for cannabis since day one!!

Edited May 15, 2023 by gb1

[stu914]

Afaik their 'test' will only tell if cannabis is in the system, how long it's been there or at what level

doesn't seem to be able to be measured.

 

I heard in the last couple of days they want to make it illegal to drive while tired.

Tell that to a night worker who's just completed a 12 hour shift and wants to get home to sleep....

...'cos they're fucking tired!!

[mystic_roots]

I've seen a lot of mixed stories, head on over to reddit, some people there have informed the DVLA and they've said they're ok to drive and won't loose their license. It could be the same as any legal prescribed drug in that you shouldn't drive if you feel your driving is impaired. I might be able to she dsome more light on this next week as I have my consultation coming up for a legal cannabis prescription and this is 1 question I'm certainly going to bring up because I suffer with anxiety, especially social anxiety or places I'm not familiar with so I would be using some cannabis prior to venturing out anywhere.

 

It's all a bit fucked really, it helps so many people and so many conditions and yet the UK being one of the largest distributors of cannabis and it's not legal, at least not til government get their grubby fingers in the money making pies, they're just profiting off peoples well being and mental health. 

[MindSoup]

16 minutes ago, mystic_roots said:

I might be able to she dsome more light

 

I'd definitely be interested to hear what they tell you mate, seems to be lots of conflicting information. 

 

 

[grower951]

Reddit has a lot of info on this, albeit conflicting,

My understanding is providing you're  not impaired  and just tested randomly on the roadside the amount of cannabis in your system is irrelevant, IF you have a prescription. However, if you were to have a serious accident your prescription may hold a tiny bit of leverage but you're ultimately fucked.

I did read somewhere they were having a lot of samples contested, sadly I can't ever see the law changing on this, can you imagine the tabloid headlines... sigh