It is the Holiday season. It is the time for merry-making. It is also the time to have a reason for recreational, mind-altering consumption of cannabis or alcohol with your friends and work colleagues.
If you are living in a state where recreational marijuana is legal, then it gives you more chances to bring up a party with your friends and celebrate the festive Christmas or whatever you want to call it in this holiday season.
As we all know, Christmastime is about more cheers with your work colleagues as your company obligates to organize a party for their employees. More or less, this party would bring a lot of booze; the number of bottles would depend on how conservative your employer is.
As more parties are celebrated in this festive season of joy and winter wonderland glee, the propensity for the merry-makers to take in excess and become intoxicated is very likely. We can hear and read reports of drunk driving and related DUI accidents, which could happen to people who haven’t been very responsible in making positive decisions for themselves.
Taking cannabis can make people more people relaxed and less susceptible to do other ways aside from doing something that they wish to do, obeying what their ‘subconscious’ or inner desire on what they want to execute or accomplish. It could be creative in which the user can be more inspired to do artistic hobbies. Or perhaps, it could be for a medicinal reason.
Individuals within the high state, however, may do something that the society would regard as destructive. Although cases such as these are still few in numbers but incidents related to cannabis consumption are not remotely possible.
Do you know that cannabis consumption could also affect the way you drive your vehicle and the way you want to handle your life behind the steering wheel?
According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, alcohol is the primary mind-altering substance causing for several incidents of drugged driving car crashes.
In 2014, the United States has recorded 9,967 deaths from alcohol-impaired driving crashes. That figure accounts for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths.
That figure could also make us think that cannabis consumption would be safer compared to alcohol. And that would also make for a possible valid topic for debate on why marijuana should be legalized.
However, next to alchohol, marijuana is the next drug causing many car-crashing incidents on the United States. This is according to NIDA.
Cannabis versus Alcohol
We have become more educated in our choices for substances that would deliver us to a state where we feel unexplained happiness or joy or a feeling that we are more relaxed to ease whatever stresses we experience at work, relationships or other matters.
When comparing cannabis to alcohol, people who are advocates for marijuana tend to prize more the cannabis products than the fermented liquid substances. But I may be wrong.
If we take the medical benefits into account, we could say cannabis weighs more in this spectrum. Cannabis may not even affect our mental health compared to alcohol. However, it doesn’t give us the reason to take in more of the substance just to receive more benefits.
Similar with alcohol consumption, moderation is the key here in consuming marijuana strains and cannabis-derived products. I couldn’t say though about CBD oil if a person wants to consume more than what is prescribed. But still, we should use our common sense in taking substances if our intention is to receive benefits from the products.
Mixing cannabis and alcohol is more dangerous
Again, we should use our common sense here on what substances we want to consume. It is highly likely for individuals to mix mariijuana with beer to get that higher kick. But it is far riskier if taking these substances together would lead the person to do something stupid such as driving under the influence of these drugs.
If you don’t want to be part of the statistics, you should refrain from doing the drugged driving part, because we want to value life here. We want to still experience what it is going to be like next year.
This study will show why mixing alcohol and cannabis is not good especially if you will be driving home.
Aside from the possible car crashes, driving under the influence of those substances can get you in trouble with the law.
In Canada and the United States, there are specific laws for people caught driving under the influence of the drugs. And since cannabis is still illegal in the federal level, your chance of getting caught is very highly likely and could land you in prison. Even in states where recreational marijuana is legal, you can’t escape the law when you consume more THC than what is prescribed and allowed for you to be able maneuver behind the wheel.
The bottomline
Even if there are studies suggesting that drivers with less THC content in their system are safer drivers compared to drunk drivers, the risks are still apparent.
Colorado, and later Washington, made a regulation allowing drivers under the influence of cannabis with five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. Beyond that, you have to deal with the authorities who are trained to identify if you are ‘high’ driving.
The same can be said with drunk driving.
What you consume this holiday season for merry-making is not really our business. But we sometimes need a dose of reminder for the betterment of humanity and of course, for our safety and security.
It is also a way for us to remind ourselves that we should be responsible in dealing with our lives while we are under the influence that could make us high.
We still thank cannabis for making us high.