An Australian trial that will investigate the impact of medical cannabis on driving ability won’t be finished until late 2025. The Guardian reports that Australian cannabis advocates are disappointed that the Victorian government appears to be delaying the study despite the issue being called a priority.

In February 2023, then-state premier Daniel Andrews pushed to determine how cannabis impacts driving ability and said that the issue is a priority for the Victornian government. He estimated as many as 200,000 medicinal cannabis patients in Victoria are essentially restricted from driving. 

That’s because THC can be detected in the body for weeks, if not months after consumption, meaning medicinal cannabis patients can essentially never drive without worry of driving while what authorities consider to be impaired.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan announced May 14 that Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia has been selected to run the trial. The $4.9 million dollar trial ($3.26 million USD), to be completed over 18 months , will review about 70 medicinal cannabis patients’ ability to manage distractions and assess their performance behind the wheel, including steering, braking, and speed control on a dedicated track.

“Just as we were the first state in the nation to introduce medicinal cannabis to support people with their medical illnesses, we are now moving to have this world-first trial to support and examine how it affects people as they’re out on this closed circuit driving track,” Allan said.

Victoria became the first Australian state to legalize medical cannabis in 2016, but it remains illegal for individuals to drive with any trace of THC in their bloodstream.

Legalise Cannabis MPs David Ettershank and Rachel Payne said they were disappointed in the timeline. “Jacinta Allan may be on a driving track today but I know she is intentionally ‘stalling’ on this decision,” Payne said. “In 2023, Dan Andrews promised an answer ‘in coming months’ followed by a guarantee to have it fixed by 2024. Now, with a new premier, it’s mid-2026 at best.” Ettershank suggested was “discriminating” against medicinal cannabis patients and the motives were political.

What could change? Already in Tasmania, leaders established a medical defense if drivers are caught behind the wheel with THC in their system, as it can linger there for weeks or months. But roads minister, Melissa Horne said Tasmania had far fewer medicinal cannabis patients than Victoria. “At the heart of it, it is a basic human rights issue where we’ve got people out there who are taking a legally prescribed substance who cannot drive at the moment,” she said.

While cannabis breathalyzers have emerged, made by several companies, there is currently very few, if any places in the world that has developed standardized cannabis impairment testing; All that exists are tests that can detect THC in the bloodstream, but that has little to do with current impairment. That could change quickly, however.

How Long Cannabis Impacts Driving Performance

Researchers in Australia have been determining the window that cannabis can impair driving performance. In one case, Thomas R Arkell, Danielle McCartney , Iain S McGregor, who are associated with The Lambert Initiative at the University of Sydney, studied the impact of cannabis on driving ability.

They determined that cannabis can impair driving ability in the hours immediately after smoking, but the impairment ends well before THC metabolites are flushed from the bloodstream.

“Patients using THC-containing products should avoid driving and other safety-sensitive tasks (e.g. operating machinery), particularly during initiation of treatment and in the hours immediately following each dose,” the authors wrote. “Patients may test positive for THC even if they do not feel impaired, and medical cannabis use does not currently exempt patients from mobile (roadside) drug testing and associated legal sanctions.”

Hound Labs, based in Oakland, California, said in 2021 that market release is imminent for its Hound Marijuana Breathalyzer, which can detect the presence of THC molecules in the breath.

“The first commercial units of the Hound Marijuana Breathalyzer will be in the hands of customers this spring,” Dr. Mike Lynn, an emergency room physician who is CEO and co-founder of Hound Labs, told High Times. “Production will ramp up throughout the rest of 2021.”

The introduction of the Hound Breathalyzer could really shake things up for law enforcement, motorists, employees, employers, and medical cannabis patients. It’s different from other drug tests because Hound Labs reps say it can test whether the person is currently high, as measured by the presence of THC molecules in the breath. The developers of the Hound believe that THC molecules linger in the breath for up to four hours after smoking. 

In the U.S., 12 states—Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin—have zero-tolerance laws for certain drugs including THC.

The post Study To Determine Impact of Cannabis on Driving Ability Delayed first appeared on High Times.

The post Study To Determine Impact of Cannabis on Driving Ability Delayed appeared first on Paradise Found.

A reel posted April 10 on Instagram went viral, warning Tesla drivers that security camera video footage—even when the car is off—can be used against you in the court of law as proof of wrongdoing, with or without a subpoena. 

The reel was posted by attorney Nicky Blu from The Ramcharitar Law Firm, who has successfully represented over 500 clients across different areas of law including criminal law, family law, immigration law, and personal injury cases.

Blu’s video claims that the New York City Police Department (NYPD) is working with Tesla, based on a specific case he’s involved with, and details such as names and dates can’t be disclosed. “Tesla is working in cooperation with NYPD, giving them full recordings from all cameras of alleged crimes.” The purpose of the video is to warn Tesla drivers about the privacy risks that are associated with the self-driving electric vehicle.

“Tesla is spying on you and getting you arrested…” the IG reel reads. “And guess who they are allowing to obtain all footage from all of their cars for any suspicion of a crime […] ?!? .. NYPD and all other law enforcement. All this without even a subpoena!!”

“Tesla camera’s record even when the car is off” This is a problem folks! This means any crime committed around a Tesla, the video footage will be given by Tesla to be used against you as proof of a crime!”

Generally speaking, a judicial order or subpoena would be required to turn over data in criminal cases, and companies like Apple and Google put up a hard fight, prioritizing user privacy. But this attorney says Tesla is not putting up a fight with law enforcement and the company is fully compliant, handing over data freely.

Others Warn About Tesla Camera Privacy Concerns

In February 2023, The Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) carried out an investigation over concerns that Tesla vehicles could be violating privacy laws with its security camera feature. “Many Teslas parked on the street were often filming everyone who came near the vehicle,” the DPA wrote, but Tesla updated its onboard camera capabilities and the DPA didn’t end up fining the electric car maker.

A main focus of privacy concerns surround Tesla’s own “Sentry Mode” feature—a perk that allows drivers to view cam footage from their cars even when they’re not in use. “To protect your privacy, Sentry Mode recordings are not transmitted to us. For 2018 and newer model year vehicles (with software version 2020.48.5 or newer), recordings are saved to onboard memory and can be viewed directly from the vehicle’s touchscreen,” Tesla states. “Sentry Mode can also operate in a similar manner without a USB drive installed, with the ability to send an alert to your phone if a threat is detected—however, recordings of the event will not be available.”

In April 2023, Reuters reported that between 2019 and 2022, groups of Tesla employees privately shared via an internal messaging system, sometimes highly invasive videos and images recorded by customers’ car cameras.

“We could see inside people’s garages and their private properties,” a former employee told Reuters. “Let’s say that a Tesla customer had something in their garage that was distinctive, you know, people would post those kinds of things.”

Should You Be Worried About Privacy from Tesla Cams?

Merely connecting the car to a cell tower provides loads of location history via cell tower pings which are routinely subpoenaed from the wireless carrier in any criminal investigation. And while Tesla does provide a provision to opt out of such data collections, drivers will also lose functionality, the company notes.

“Tesla vehicles make use of a camera suite that provides advanced features such as Autopilot, Smart Summon, and Autopark,” Tesla’s data and privacy policy reads. “This camera functionality has been designed from the ground up to protect your privacy. Tesla does not continuously collect personally identifiable camera recordings and in fact, most processing takes place without ever leaving the vehicle. In order for camera recordings to be shared with Tesla, your consent is required and can be controlled through the vehicle’s touchscreen at any time (Software > Data Sharing). Even if you choose to opt-in, camera recordings remain anonymous and are not linked to you or your car, unless we receive the recording as a result of a safety event (such as a vehicle collision or airbag deployment). In such an event, the applicable recordings may be provided as part of your data request. You may also refer to the Owner’s Manual for your vehicle for more information on how you can record or retrieve recordings from your car.’

Last year in April 2023, The NYPD launched a test flight of nearly 200 electric cars in an effort to reduce the city’s carbon footprint. The department hopes to go electric in all of its 30,000 vehicles by 2035.

If you live in New York City, you’re probably already being watched on the street. The NYPD has the ability to track people in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx by running images from 15,280 surveillance cameras into invasive and discriminatory facial recognition software, Amnesty International claims in their report.

The post Is Your Tesla Self-Driving Car Narcing You Out? appeared first on High Times.

The post Is Your Tesla Self-Driving Car Narcing You Out? appeared first on Paradise Found.

In a new report by Quartz Advisor, data shows that since 2016, traffic fatalities fell in four states that legalized adult-use cannabis, with a slight increase of fatalities in five states that have not legalized cannabis. The report showed some anomalies, however, and there was a slight increase of traffic fatalities across the board during 2020 and 2021, the pandemic years.

Quartz Advisor’s report, “Legalizing Marijuana Hasn’t Made Roads Less Safe,” was published on Oct. 24.

Out of the report, three highlights were presented.

• In California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada—four states that fully legalized marijuana in 2016—traffic fatalities declined or remained the same in the three years that followed, compared to a slight increase in states where it remained illegal.
• A comprehensive study of traffic data in the U.S. and Canada failed to find a statistically significant change in accidents and fatalities after legalization.
• Alcohol, which remains fully legal in all 50 states and D.C., is a factor in nearly a third of all automotive fatalities.

For better data, Quartz utilized traffic fatality results from the National Safety Council (NSC), which they believe provided more accurate results.

“For clarity and consistency, we chose four states—California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada—that fully legalized marijuana in 2016 to study vehicle death rate trends,” Senior Automotive Journalist David Straughan wrote in the report summary. “We used deaths per 100,000,000 vehicle miles as our primary metric, sourced from the National Safety Council (NSC). Our team examined individual vehicle death rates and aggregated fatality rates in these four states during the years following 2016 and compared them to the U.S. national average. We also compared these numbers with those of Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming—five states that have not legalized marijuana.”

While the vehicle death rate increased across the board when you include the pandemic years, the rate of fatalities was “slightly increased” in states that didn’t legalize adult-use cannabis.

“Among the states that legalized marijuana in 2016, the vehicle death rate increased by 6.0% between 2016 and 2021. While this is an increase, it is slightly less of an increase than the national average, which saw a 6.2% increase in the traffic fatality rate over the same period. The vehicle death rate dropped by an average of 0.7% in the five states that have not legalized cannabis during this period.

With a more complex and nuanced picture, Quartz Advisor researchers removed 2020 and 2021 traffic fatality data changes to see what would happen.

“In many ways, 2020 and 2021 were anomalies, and this remains true in the case of vehicular accident trends. After decades of declining accident rates in the U.S., traffic fatalities picked up in 2020 and stayed high through 2021. The U.S. as a whole saw traffic fatality rates spike 18.9% from 2019 to 2021. States that legalized marijuana in 2016 saw a similar increase of 19.9%. States that have not legalized—and are notably more rural than ones that did—saw the vehicular death rate fall 2.3% over that period.”

A study published in The American Journal of Addictions (AJA) found that cannabis impacts our ability to drive, and advised against it, yet it showed some interesting details. 

“Surprisingly, given the alarming results of cognitive studies, most marijuana-intoxicated drivers show only modest impairments on actual road tests,” it reads. The report adds, “Experienced smokers who drive on a set course show almost no functional impairment under the influence of marijuana.”

Americans Are Driving Stoned

Millions of Americans are getting high, and then getting behind the wheel, High Times reported in December 2019.

In a report of findings detailed in 2019 by researchers associated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which showed that 12 million American adults said that they had driven under the influence of marijuana in 2018. 

The report, “Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana and Illicit Drugs Among Persons Aged ≥16 Years — United States, 2018” was published on Dec. 20, 2019.

The CDC said that an estimated 10,511 alcohol-impaired driving deaths occurred in 2018. 

The findings on driving under the influence of pot dovetail with a report released by American Auto Association (AAA)  a few years ago. 

The AAA report found that almost 70% of Americans believe it is unlikely for a driver to get busted by the cops while high on marijuana. AAA also offered up what it called another “alarming finding” in its research: roughly 14.8 million drivers have gotten behind the wheel within an hour of using pot in the last 30 days.

In the next two years following that report, traffic fatalities surged everywhere thanks to the effects of COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown.

The post Traffic Fatalities Dropped in States With Legal Weed, Report Shows appeared first on High Times.

The post Traffic Fatalities Dropped in States With Legal Weed, Report Shows appeared first on Paradise Found.

British police this week reportedly uncovered thousands of cannabis plants in an abandoned tire factory in what is being called one of the largest weed busts in the area. 

The British newspaper The Independent reported that law enforcement in the otherwise sleepy Lincolnshire village “busted one of their largest ever cannabis factories after discovering 6,000 plants inside an old tyre factory – believed to be worth around £6.5 million.”

“This is one of the largest cannabis grows we have located in Lincolnshire to date and follows the excellent development of intelligence,” said detective inspector Richard Nethercott, as quoted by the Lincolnshire World.

“Cannabis production is far from being harmless: it is often linked to wider, organised criminality which is why tackling the wider issue of drug supply is one of our key priorities. Lincolnshire Police remains determined to crack down on criminal enterprises and remove drugs from circulation.”

According to the BBC, three men “aged 28, 38, and 42, all of no fixed address, were taken into custody following the raid,” and the plants were “removed and destroyed.”

The raid “took place at the property situated behind a countryside village pub at around 8am on Tuesday,” according to The Independent, which said that the property was the location of “the Old Kings Head Tyre Factory in Hubberts Bridge, near Boston.”

While the raid may have been remarkable for Lincolnshire, it falls under a familiar story genre here at High Times, which has chronicled some of the more peculiar cannabis busts from across the pond. 

In 2019, we told you about the 120-year-old Victorian style theater in London that was the site of a $51 million marijuana grow operation. 

Authorities there surmised that the grow site had been operational for roughly a decade in the bowels of the old Broadway Theater, which was built in 1897.

A spokesperson for the London police said that “officers were called to an address following reports of a disturbance.” 

“They discovered a large number of cannabis plants along with equipment used in the cultivation of cannabis in an area beneath the residential properties. Three men, aged 28, 45, and 47, and a 36-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of the cultivation of cannabis. They have all been released under investigation,” the spokesperson said at the time.

A couple years later, the British were at it again, this time discovering an illicit grow operation at a 17th century castle in Somerset, located in southern England.

That same year, in 2021, a massive growhouse was discovered in London’s financial district, which had gone quiet amid the lockdown restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Police at the time responded to reports of a pungent cannabis odor in the area.

“This is the first cannabis factory in the City, no doubt being set up in response to fewer people being out and about during the pandemic who might have noticed any unusual activity,” Andy Spooner, the London detective overseeing the investigation, said at the time. “However, this demonstrates that City of London Police continues to actively police the Square Mile, bearing down on any crime committed here.” 

And last year, the English village of West Parley provided yet another example after locals there discovered a half-dozen suspicious plants growing in a community garden. 

The marijuana plants were tough to miss, with one local remarking at the time that they were “towering above the bedding plants.”

The post British Police Find 6,000 Cannabis Plants in Abandoned Tire Factory appeared first on High Times.

The post British Police Find 6,000 Cannabis Plants in Abandoned Tire Factory appeared first on Paradise Found.