Dui/dwi Changes And Pharmaceuticals

[stxchick]

So, we know that they can currently arrest us for driving while intoxicated (on our meds) if they have probable cause and want to be dicks about it. Legally they can based upon current DUI/DWI law.

 

What I want to know is why there are these subtle but damaging to us changes they want to make (the whole "tip" for PC thing) NOW - when for years anyone who is on a pharmaceutical hasn't been targeted? How many of US have even driven while taking Vicodin, Oxy, Morphine, Duragesic and more? Usually for those of us with chronic pain conditions we've been on multiples of these coupled with muscle relaxers or anti-anxiety pills. And we do it because we need the medicine to function at work or just in life - and we have to get to work, grocery, etc.

 

So why haven't there been campaigns telling people that they can be busted for DUI/DWI while on these medications? Because think of how many people would be busted and their lives destroyed. The pharmaceutical companies don't mention that some states (most if not all) have these laws on the books and to not drive while taking the meds. Why? Cuz they want you to keep taking the meds - it is not in their interest to tell you. And if you read the info they put out about these drugs, it says "Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you". Why doesn't it say, "In some states if you drive while taking this medication (regardless of how it affects you) you run the risk of arrest for DUI/DWI"?

 

This is a form of discrimination in my opinion and we need to fight any changes of this law that includes changing probable cause to include tips. And when people talk about being stoned and driving - we need to bring up the number of people who drive under the influence of pharmaceutical drugs that are scheduled drugs and illegal to drive while taking. Put it in their face. Fight this to the end! This is not fair and we are being targeted as marijuana users. You can bet they aren't gonna answer a call to a "tip" that someone is driving and taking vicodin like they will if the tip is that someone is driving after leaving a compassion club meeting. And for a couple of reasons - 1) the cop is probably taking vicodin and under its influence at that very moment! and 2) because they want to make a point that marijuana smoking is bad and it's an easy bust (the DUI/DWI).

 

Do whatever you can to speak out against changes to the laws that allow this "TIPSTER" use for probable cause. Also - when people talk about how you can't smoke weed and drive - how bad it is - bring up to them the whole pharm thing - ask them - have you gone to the store today after taking your pain or anxiety pills? Then you have committed the same crime as someone who just smoked a bowl and is going home.

 

We have to be vocal - not just the few we have representing our cause to Lansing - but all of us. We need to fight for the rights we have as patients. And we need to not back down, keep quiet - if you can complain and moan here on this board - you can get the balls to stand up to the people that are "out there"!

 

(note - as I write this I am in the hospital being tested/treated for conditions that will affect my ability of transportation for life under the current DUI/DWI laws as I will be on controlled substances for years to treat these conditions. So this is a very personal issue to me - as it is to almost all of the med mj patients in Michigan.)

 

As Bob Marley puts it so well - "GET UP, STAND UP, STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!"

[DT61]

Absolutely correct - it is discrimination and blatant.

The only way to stop it is to press the point - even with over the counter non prescription drugs.

OUI/DUI is just that if the law is to be applied evenly and blindly.

 

I am guessing that the homework on the list of side effects has been done and cataloged at the FDA - just need access and then test cases.

[Red Bud]

It won't be long before Michigans DUI law is challenged in court. With the way the law is written, you can be charged if any marijuana is present in the body. So weeks after that last joint, marijuana metabolites will still be present. The DUI charge has to do with the metabolites. There is zero proof that the metabolites cause impairment. I can remember back a few years, a man tried to fight his DUI in court. The judge said that even though the driver wasn't high and the metabolites in his system didn't cause impairment, he would still have to be charged due to internal possession laws. Now that the law is changed making the medicinal cannabis legal, it also has to apply to the metabolites. It'll be interesting to see how this would play out in court.

[bobandtorey]

Absolutely correct - it is discrimination and blatant.

The only way to stop it is to press the point - even with over the counter non prescription drugs.

OUI/DUI is just that if the law is to be applied evenly and blindly.

 

I am guessing that the homework on the list of side effects has been done and cataloged at the FDA - just need access and then test cases.

 

test case not me

[greenbuddha]

Found the Bill # and it's given in next post down.

 

Stx... Hope your health improves for you.

 

Thanks very much for the post.

[greenbuddha]

Just found the Bill # and it is... HB 5961.

 

This means a person would have to contact their Michigan Congress rep in Lansing. (not Federal)

 

The only way to keep these kinds of laws from being passed is to let your reps KNOW that you do not want them put into law.

 

With this legislation ALL an LEO has to say in order to bust someone is that they got an 'anonymous' tip .

 

LEO WON'T need a warrant to bust people.

[stonecrowe316]

So, we know that they can currently arrest us for driving while intoxicated (on our meds) if they have probable cause and want to be dicks about it. Legally they can based upon current DUI/DWI law.

 

What I want to know is why there are these subtle but damaging to us changes they want to make (the whole "tip" for PC thing) NOW - when for years anyone who is on a pharmaceutical hasn't been targeted? How many of US have even driven while taking Vicodin, Oxy, Morphine, Duragesic and more? Usually for those of us with chronic pain conditions we've been on multiples of these coupled with muscle relaxers or anti-anxiety pills. And we do it because we need the medicine to function at work or just in life - and we have to get to work, grocery, etc.

 

So why haven't there been campaigns telling people that they can be busted for DUI/DWI while on these medications? Because think of how many people would be busted and their lives destroyed. The pharmaceutical companies don't mention that some states (most if not all) have these laws on the books and to not drive while taking the meds. Why? Cuz they want you to keep taking the meds - it is not in their interest to tell you. And if you read the info they put out about these drugs, it says "Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you". Why doesn't it say, "In some states if you drive while taking this medication (regardless of how it affects you) you run the risk of arrest for DUI/DWI"?

 

This is a form of discrimination in my opinion and we need to fight any changes of this law that includes changing probable cause to include tips. And when people talk about being stoned and driving - we need to bring up the number of people who drive under the influence of pharmaceutical drugs that are scheduled drugs and illegal to drive while taking. Put it in their face. Fight this to the end! This is not fair and we are being targeted as marijuana users. You can bet they aren't gonna answer a call to a "tip" that someone is driving and taking vicodin like they will if the tip is that someone is driving after leaving a compassion club meeting. And for a couple of reasons - 1) the cop is probably taking vicodin and under its influence at that very moment! and 2) because they want to make a point that marijuana smoking is bad and it's an easy bust (the DUI/DWI).

 

Do whatever you can to speak out against changes to the laws that allow this "TIPSTER" use for probable cause. Also - when people talk about how you can't smoke weed and drive - how bad it is - bring up to them the whole pharm thing - ask them - have you gone to the store today after taking your pain or anxiety pills? Then you have committed the same crime as someone who just smoked a bowl and is going home.

 

We have to be vocal - not just the few we have representing our cause to Lansing - but all of us. We need to fight for the rights we have as patients. And we need to not back down, keep quiet - if you can complain and moan here on this board - you can get the balls to stand up to the people that are "out there"!

 

(note - as I write this I am in the hospital being tested/treated for conditions that will affect my ability of transportation for life under the current DUI/DWI laws as I will be on controlled substances for years to treat these conditions. So this is a very personal issue to me - as it is to almost all of the med mj patients in Michigan.)

 

As Bob Marley puts it so well - "GET UP, STAND UP, STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!"

good post,just wondering what are some of the things you have done so far to help out the matter.thanks

[+Dizledot]

So, we know that they can currently arrest us for driving while intoxicated (on our meds) if they have probable cause and want to be dicks about it. Legally they can based upon current DUI/DWI law.

 

What I want to know is why there are these subtle but damaging to us changes they want to make (the whole "tip" for PC thing) NOW - when for years anyone who is on a pharmaceutical hasn't been targeted? How many of US have even driven while taking Vicodin, Oxy, Morphine, Duragesic and more? Usually for those of us with chronic pain conditions we've been on multiples of these coupled with muscle relaxers or anti-anxiety pills. And we do it because we need the medicine to function at work or just in life - and we have to get to work, grocery, etc.

 

So why haven't there been campaigns telling people that they can be busted for DUI/DWI while on these medications? Because think of how many people would be busted and their lives destroyed. The pharmaceutical companies don't mention that some states (most if not all) have these laws on the books and to not drive while taking the meds. Why? Cuz they want you to keep taking the meds - it is not in their interest to tell you. And if you read the info they put out about these drugs, it says "Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you". Why doesn't it say, "In some states if you drive while taking this medication (regardless of how it affects you) you run the risk of arrest for DUI/DWI"?

 

This is a form of discrimination in my opinion and we need to fight any changes of this law that includes changing probable cause to include tips. And when people talk about being stoned and driving - we need to bring up the number of people who drive under the influence of pharmaceutical drugs that are scheduled drugs and illegal to drive while taking. Put it in their face. Fight this to the end! This is not fair and we are being targeted as marijuana users. You can bet they aren't gonna answer a call to a "tip" that someone is driving and taking vicodin like they will if the tip is that someone is driving after leaving a compassion club meeting. And for a couple of reasons - 1) the cop is probably taking vicodin and under its influence at that very moment! and 2) because they want to make a point that marijuana smoking is bad and it's an easy bust (the DUI/DWI).

 

Do whatever you can to speak out against changes to the laws that allow this "TIPSTER" use for probable cause. Also - when people talk about how you can't smoke weed and drive - how bad it is - bring up to them the whole pharm thing - ask them - have you gone to the store today after taking your pain or anxiety pills? Then you have committed the same crime as someone who just smoked a bowl and is going home.

 

We have to be vocal - not just the few we have representing our cause to Lansing - but all of us. We need to fight for the rights we have as patients. And we need to not back down, keep quiet - if you can complain and moan here on this board - you can get the balls to stand up to the people that are "out there"!

 

(note - as I write this I am in the hospital being tested/treated for conditions that will affect my ability of transportation for life under the current DUI/DWI laws as I will be on controlled substances for years to treat these conditions. So this is a very personal issue to me - as it is to almost all of the med mj patients in Michigan.)

 

As Bob Marley puts it so well - "GET UP, STAND UP, STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS!!!"

 

 

Wow! What a statement! Amen you are absolutely 100% correct!!!

 

I can't tell you how many times I've been impaired due to the use of oxycontin, oxycodone and several other drugs while trying to live my life and perform my daily duties. How about the day I ran a red light the morning after taking ambien? Yep I got a ticket for that one. Thank god he didn't suspect me under the influence of legal prescription drugs because I had been taking these drugs for years. Now ask me if I ever ran a red light while using MM, no I have not, in fact I'm more alert now that I no longer use prescription drugs for pain. Unfortunately we have doctors who earn very nice all inclusive trips to nice warm tropical places if they sell enough drugs for the drug companies.

 

I have been very slowly and cautiously approaching the subject with my fellow constituents. It's not easy when you bring up the subject of MM when you work for a government entity, but the fact is it's legal and here to stay. I feel it's my job to try to educate those around me of the real facts because when we get that first request to open a dispensary or CC in my community I don't want our planning commission to act like a bunch of uninformed idiots. The same for our local PD. They have no clue I'm a patient but that day will come when I will come clean. It almost seems as if "they" judge us by looks or how we dress and that's just not right. What would it take to change the image? I can't be the only one who wears a suit to work who uses MM. My dream would be to gather enough money to make a public service announcement showing us from all walks of life who've chosen to use MM as opposed to become addicted to prescription drugs.

[stxchick]

Hey Stonecrowe316! I have been around. I write our legislators in Michigan and Washington. I advocate for our rights in writing. I have been working steadfast to legalize marijuana in the US Virgin Islands steadily for the last year. We have written legislation that we are trying to get on November's ballot there. I am a Michigander and try to remain as active as I can (considering what I am doing in the VI and my health)in the Michigan Med MJ community. I cannot attend meetings, rallys, cc meetings, etc., but last year I worked at the MMMA EXPO, continue to write letters to our representatives, and seek out information and am beginning to formulate letters to the candidates running to run this state and represent us both here and in Washington to be sent out in the next month.

 

I do the most that I can with my health and my physical resources. I find this to be a passion for me - fighting for our rights - rights to use a plant that was only taken away because of greed. How many other plants are have been made illegal to use in it's grown form? How many other plants can provide the benefits to nature, ecology, commercial and industrial uses, and medically?

 

If you haven't seen me around much, that's because for a while the P&M on this site got really bad and I don't like to surround myself with negative energy. It is fruitless. I came back to take a look around, checked out the new site, and decided to follow some of the posts here again. I'm taking it a day at a time - am selective in what I read - and do as much to spread the word about marijuana as I can. Recently while in the hospital in another state for a few days I was watching a provisional copy of "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" documentary when someone walked in and wondered what I was watching. What a lead in.... So I talked about the benefits of this plant, the efforts throughout the country for both medical and full legalization - explaining that the reasons behind prohibition had nothing to do with it's uses/benefits/adverse affects. They left enlightened and curious. I talk to people where ever I go, whatever I do. And I am very vocal about either demanding that our legislators support this law (and that our representation in Washington support national bills) or they need to be put on notice.

 

Hope that answers your curiosity.

 

In all things give thanks!

 

 

good post,just wondering what are some of the things you have done so far to help out the matter.thanks

[stxchick]

Dizz,

This has been made as well as others. There was a contest last year.