h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The alkaloids in question are chemically close enough to our own messenger chemicals, so our nerve systen accepts them.

>>"Cannabis drivers 'twice as likely to cause car crash'"

I'm not sure they've established a casual link there. Just because these people in accidents had been smoking dope, doesn't mean it was the dope that caused the accident. And it fails to investigate how many dope-smokers might actually be safer, due to being more unhurried. I'll wager not many road-rage incidents are caused by cannabis.

On a related note, sometimes I feel that with such 'drink drive' situations, we ignore the fact that cars themselves are intrinsically dangerous. Too many people just aren't generally responsible enough to pilot a tonne of metal at high speed, however sober they might be.

If cars had never been invented, and someone came up with the design now, is it likely we'd accept the level of carnage which they result in?

Driving a two ton death machine whilst under the influence of substances known to impair judgement and slow reaction times and getting in an accident.

No, no easily establishable causal link there whatsoever.

Let's just say that even if there's no conclusive, causal link between cannabis and crashes...there's certainly no evidence that it's a good idea.

Modafinil (qv) may help, though.

My point is that you can't say "Cannabis drivers 'twice as likely to cause car crash' " based on their evidence. It might be correct to say the users are twice as likely to be involved in an accident, but it could be that there's something else about them which both makes them dangerous drivers and dope-smokers.

The alkaloids in question are chemically close enough to our own messenger chemicals, so our nerve systen accepts them.
<<<<

I´ve been thinking of how our neuroreceptors for nicotine, cannabis and other alkaloids, which are toxic substances, become accepted by the brain.

You may laugh at it, it´s just something it occurred to me watching a few days ago a dog puking a ball of grass.

Imagine one of our ancestor observing a dog, or hyena eating grass, and how good the animal feels after that. It has got rid of parasites or other digestive problem.

Nicotine and cannabis put insects off, so, our ancestor could have thought that eating any of that plants could work in them in the same way that it works in the animals.

That way, despite the toxicity of the plants, the brain also received the information that the plant was also good for the body.
Our ancestor puked the hemp leaves,but the brain registered the experience as not too bad.

In addition, the cave person laughed, or had hallucinations...

Still more, the experience could be perceived as a signal of strength.

"I want to copulate with that man/woman who has eaten such a crap and is still alive. I want to mix my genes with that one."

or ish?

Hmm. We know that men like (need!) their women intoxicated - but is that also true in reverse?

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at Quotes... if someone crashes a car while intoxicated why can the intoxicant not be the sole reason for it? Why must they otherwise be a dangerous driver? Yes, there *might* be other influencing factors but frankly if someone is intoxicated in charge of a two ton death machine and crashes it the cause-and-effect is pretty simple.

True, though, there will be a residual number of intoxicated drivers who will have crashed anyway. This will also be true for non-intoxicated drivers. It's the difference that is noteworthy,

Everything that slows your reflexes and reactions is ing dangerous. Ask any conscious who knows what low temperatures can do to his.

>>I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at Quotes

Consider this; what sort of person smokes dope? Because if that sort of person is more likely to have an accident anyway, then you can't entirely blame the dope. Clearly the have no regard for the law, so maybe they drive more recklessly anyway. Or maybe they are more likely to be mentally ill and self-medicating with the dope, and it's the illness that makes them drive badly. Or some other medication. Or a zillion other things.

To establish how cannabis affects your driving, you surely need to take random sample of people and test them.

Although...we do know that Cannabis causes a degree of psychomotor impairment. The good shit, leastways.

What kind of person *does* smoke dope? Young people, old people, unemployed people, high court judges...

A better question is 'What kind of person smokes dope and then thinks it's sensible to drive?'

A better question is 'What kind of person drinks alcohol and then thinks it's sensible to drive?'

That's obviously a good question Ed, but the reason I asked the other one was that there was a suggestion that people who smoke dope are more likely to break laws *in general*, which I don't think is the case.

/...but the reason I asked the other one was that there was a suggestion that people who smoke dope are more likely to break laws *in general*, which I don't think is the case.

I agree, I have no evidence either way, I was just throwing that in as one of many possible explanations which hadn't been considered.

Ed's example is more interesting, of course.

"A better question is 'What kind of person smokes dope and then thinks it's sensible to drive?'"

To answer that question, it would be helpful to know the percentage of those who smoke dope and drive that aren't involved in accidents.

(Could be smaller than those that drink and drive...... maybe even smaller than those who drive 'straight' - in which case....)

MP goes berserk in Commons bar brawl
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24037762-mp-arrested-over-commons-bar-brawl.do

Would this have happened if he had chosen the hookah (or a hooker) as his recreational drug?

A loaded hookah, naturally.