DWI/DUI repeat offenders

[cpzilliacus]

Fuck that. How do you learn about alcohol if you can't drink enough to get drunk until you're old enough to do damage with it? Responsible parents can teach responsible consumption such that at 18, the young adult will not endanger himself or others. Without parenting, no matter what you do with drinking, the young adult will be irresponsible with any percentage alcohol he can get. (And it will probably be high - at parties, for example. How do you say "beer only at 18, beer and wine at 21, vodka at 24, Everclear at 26" at an event with all ages?)

Agreed.  My Dad would give my brother and I beer with pizza long before we were 10 years old.  I don't think either of us liked beer that much (at that age), but it was definitely not a mystery!

[hbelkins]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only person here who has never tried pot, not even once. I have also never smoked a cigarette. I am proud of both of those things.

Pot smoke gives me a headache. I can't be around it, and one of the reasons I quit going to concerts was because of the smell.

I also don't like cigarette smoke and hate going into a building where people smoke, and coming out stinking.

[Scott5114]

I also don't like cigarette smoke and hate going into a building where people smoke, and coming out stinking.

Try having to be in one for seven hours a day. You REALLY stink then.

[hbelkins]

Try having to be in one for seven hours a day. You REALLY stink then.

BTDT. My first job out of college was in a small office with two smokers, one of whom was a chain smoker. My second job was also in a non-smoke-free office, until the boss found out that smoke was harmful to the computer equipment and banned smoking in the building.

I hate going to casinos because even the smoke-free areas aren't really smoke-free.

[triplemultiplex]

I hate going to casinos because even the smoke-free areas aren't really smoke-free.

Yeah, it's like having a swimming pool with a peeing section.  That's why I'm all for public smoking bans.  People can cry about their "freedom", but what about my freedom to not breath their stench?
Cigarettes smell like burning paper.  At least stuff like cigars and weed smell like leaves burning.  Not that I wouldn't want pot smokers to conform to public smoking bans.  I love going to bars and coming home not smelling like an ashtray.

[Jordanah1]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only person here who has never tried pot, not even once. I have also never smoked a cigarette. I am proud of both of those things.

Pot smoke gives me a headache. I can't be around it, and one of the reasons I quit going to concerts was because of the smell.

I also don't like cigarette smoke and hate going into a building where people smoke, and coming out stinking.

i have never smoked pot or cigarettes either, nor have i done any other drugs.

being that im not 21, i woun't drive know matter how much or how little i have had, because blowing anything on a brethalizer without haveing a bottle of mouthwash in my car that i could point at would be an arrest and a hefty ticket for underage drinking. im not quite sure about how these laws work because i have never expreriaced them myself, but i believe if you dont blow the .08%, but fail the field sobriety, they will give you an 'uncuffed' ride in the back of thier car, either to your home or wheerever, or to the police station. you wont get booked, because you arent over the legal limit, but if you are too impaired they wont let you drive either. i could see this happening to alot of women, because the amount of alcohol that would impair most women is significanly less what would impair most men. i wrote this as a "boat sober" comercial was on TV...

[cpzilliacus]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only person here who has never tried pot, not even once.

I was definitely considered a "freak" by the dopeheads in high school, and at one job while I was in college, where one of my co-workers was addicted to marihuana and hashish.  He would smoke one or the other in a bong in the break room at work, and made the mistake of leaving it out in the open one Saturday when I had to work.  His bong ended up under one of the tires of my truck (I put the resulting shards back on the table where he had left the bong).  This guy's habit was so bad that he stopped paying his vehicle insurance to "save money," and promptly wrecked his expensive Datsun Z-car (yes, he was high at the time) after the  insurance had expired.

I have also never smoked a cigarette. I am proud of both of those things.

I have tried cigarets (did not especially like them) and cigars (ditto), but not for over 30 years, and I was never "hooked" on them.  Tried chewing tobacco once and nearly passed-out from the nicotine rush!

Pot smoke gives me a headache. I can't be around it, and one of the reasons I quit going to concerts was because of the smell.

I don't think it has that impact on me - I just think it stinks, that's all.

I also don't like cigarette smoke and hate going into a building where people smoke, and coming out stinking.

I don't especially like the smell of tobacco smoke (I once had a boss who smoked four or five packs of Marlboro Reds every working day), and it's clearly not good for the human lungs, but because it is a legal substance, the whole "smoke-free" thing bothers me.  Not in hospitals and other health care facilities, but I think bars and restaurants should be allowed to have smoking rooms if their owners desire same (perhaps with ventilation that is proven to be effective in a test and certified by a government building inspector).

[bugo]

BTW NOBODY calls it "pot" anymore outside the prohibitionists.

[Mr. Matté]

Also off-topic, does anyone else think of singing the Establishment song when you see cannabis spelled "marihuana?"

[cpzilliacus]

BTW NOBODY calls it "pot" anymore outside the prohibitionists.

I usually call it "dope" or "marihuana."

[Special K]

BTW NOBODY calls it "pot" anymore outside the prohibitionists.

I usually call it "dope" or "marihuana."

Wacky Tobaccy.

[agentsteel53]

I usually call it "dope" or "marihuana."

I call it "marijuana" (and spell it with the "j", which I thought was the accepted form).

[Special K]

Dope, gank, grass, weed, spliff, blunt, pot, endo, buzz, smoke, breeze, cloud, green, tree, kronik...

[agentsteel53]

Dope, gank, grass, weed, spliff, blunt, pot, endo, buzz, smoke, breeze, cloud, green, tree, kronik...

how does everyone keep track??

"yo, G-Funk Era, let's score us some cloud, bro-segmentation"
"uh... which one is that again?"

[Takumi]

...but because it is a legal substance, the whole "smoke-free" thing bothers me.  Not in hospitals and other health care facilities, but I think bars and restaurants should be allowed to have smoking rooms if their owners desire same (perhaps with ventilation that is proven to be effective in a test and certified by a government building inspector).

I agree with this. I only occasionally use tobacco (I have the urge for a cigar or cigarette maybe once a year), so it doesn't bother me when others smoke. I think it comes from so many people I've known (parents, friends, coworkers, ex-girlfriends, etc) who are/were smokers.

[Duke87]

The problem with zero as a limit is that things like mouthwash will give you a reading greater than zero. In Connecticut, the legal limit for drivers under 21 is 0.02. This allows for that.

Nonetheless, even that is getting a little stringent. One beer will take some people above that, and nobody is particularly impaired by it. And I've driven after having had the equivalent of two and a half and found that I was putting a lot more effort into looking out for hazards and was generally a lot more alert and paying a lot more attention to driving, as opposed to my typical sober state where after two minutes I often kinda stop thinking about what I'm doing and operate semi-instinctively. Though, admittedly, alcohol affects everyone differently and this won't happen to everyone.

I'm fine with keeping the limit at 0.08. Especially since, who has access to a breathalyzer and can really say at any given point what exactly their BAC is? What my capability of driving at any point (which determines whether I am dangerous) is is far easier for me to determine that what my BAC is (which determines whether I can get in trouble). For this reason I like having some buffer space, and knowing the limit is 0.08 making sure I don't drive when I estimate myself to be above 0.05, to play it safe.

This is a common trend for me: I usually worry about getting in trouble for something far more than I worry about physical danger. I know myself and what my limits are, and I am confident in my ability to control my car and my discretion to stop driving if I cannot. But the police are unpredictable and I have no control over them. And getting in trouble is statistically far more likely than causing an accident, besides.

[kphoger]

Your comments about being more focused on hazards etc. are reminding me of a ride I got once from a drunk driver.  The whole way, he kept watching out for cops, making sure he was between the lines, making sure he wasn't speeding–all while going at less than 15 mph!  What a ride....  I've been driving after one or two drinks before when I thought I was fine, but then a situation came up when I realized my reflexes weren't what they should have been, or I just started zoning out; I've pulled over before and had my wife drive in situations like that.  I maintain that just thinking you're OK to drive doesn't mean you actually are.

I was under the impression that Poland had a legal BAC limit of zero, but apparently it's .02%.  Hungary and the Czech Republic, though, have a zero limit.

[Duke87]

That story was from the time I was working in NYC but still living in CT. I had developed a policy that if I went out after work I could have three drinks, and then after the hour-long train ride back to CT I would be good to drive home from the train station. Well, one night I ended up having a fourth... I hung around a little later at the bar afterwards and I sat in my car for about 20 minutes after getting off the train before I started it. I was at that point a bit above where I wanted to be but, doing the math, definitely still under 0.08 (no way I would have driven off if I weren't certain of that).
I drove slightly slower than normal but I wasn't going 15.

Fortunately, my commute no longer involves the use of a car, so this is now a non-issue for me.

[hm insulators]

Dope, gank, grass, weed, spliff, blunt, pot, endo, buzz, smoke, breeze, cloud, green, tree, kronik...

...pakalolo (the Hawaiian term)...

[bugo]

Dope, gank, grass, weed, spliff, blunt, pot, endo, buzz, smoke, breeze, cloud, green, tree, kronik...

...pakalolo (the Hawaiian term)...

Choom (the term President Obama used back when he smoked.)

[Takumi]

...ganja...