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The Corroboree
Pedro Williams

Roadside Drug Swabs

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They should be testing for active amounts of drugs.. None of this "have you consumed any illegal drugs in THE PAST WEEK?" bullshit.

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They should be testing for active amounts of drugs.. None of this "have you consumed any illegal drugs in THE PAST WEEK?" bullshit.

 

Spot on! That's bullshit...

.. but those of you wanting to cover up driving under the influence of major psychotropic drugs, sorry, that's f*cked.

And yes I used to do it myself, what a dickhead. After a few years of being a husband and a dad and also dealing first hand, hands-on with the immediate consequences of drink/drug/idiot driving --- sorry, I can't think of a more idiotic thing to do. It's one thing to risk your own safety, but another thing again to take into your hands the lives not only of those in your car but also everyone else on the road at the time.

People caught for serious speeding or drink/drug driving should be forced to spend a shift with the air ambulance to find out what are the consequences of their actions. Guess what, they're not pretty.

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@r2pi

that's fair enough, for some things like alcohol and certain other things, but not all drug driving is bad, obviously it depends on the person, the dose and other factors... but many people drive on caffeine and amphetamines, probably better than when sober, and also check these links out

http://www.tokeofthe...performance.php

http://www.canorml.o...th/driving_info

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2011/12/study_medical_marijuana_makes.php

Edited by chnt

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r2pi

agreed but

think, a detox is a detox

in other words It removes or changes the substance

none one here said they drive under the influence of major psychotropic drugs

only you have so who are you angry at? yourself i hope

no one has mentioned a method that masks alcohol, the method i know off dosnt detox only masks alcohol and its available at any servo for nics

if people are in an emergency or something (or a bad drug experience) and have to drive or straighten out people need to know you can detox very rapidly and a detox straightens you out after a long weekend

test kits tell you if you are straight

re:

People caught for serious speeding or drink/drug driving should be forced to spend a shift with the air ambulance to find out what are the consequences of their actions. Guess what, they're not pretty.

agreed show them the truth

as chnt links show i think road rage, drink driving,accidents and violence can be prevented with a joint, it should be prescribed for aggression and sold at the cafe's but big pharma and textile companies make a bundle getting it made illegal

its now being grown for textiles in oz again

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@chnt & pete34 - agreed, for the most part.

Some people above do seem to be suggesting you can get away with driving an hour or two after a smoke, or to be suggesting methods to get away with this. That's what I object to, depending on the amount consumed.

I do agree though, of the serious and fatal accidents I have attended, most seem to have been caused by stupidity- very often turning or overtaking when not safe to do so. Lots of people are plenty stupid already, no drugs required... although such people tend to get even stupider with drugs on board.

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P.S. on stimulants - yes and no. Plenty of accidents are caused by overconfident, testosterone-laden young men. Their over-exhuberance and overconfidence is what causes dangerous behaviour in the first place, not speed. Adding stimulants to that mix is only likely to make them even more dangerously overconfident and aggressive.

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I blame dopey Camry and Corolla drivers.. Maybe it's a Newcastle thing.

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im sory, but why is it they bother to test for mj again? i must have forgoten their well founded reason for this.

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id be more concerned with my eating 5 dry grams and jumping on bike, racing the mandalla, dodging the growing vines, all through the crystaline mountains at spirit-smashing speeds.

Jokes.

i hope somebody finds that funny, i thought the topic needed a bit of comedy.

Edited by ghosty
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Why aren't they testing for prescription meds that impair driving?.. There's plenty of those about..

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I drive on DMT!

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^ please stay on the east coast

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There is a asparagus based 'tonic' drink which clinical studies have shown to half the amount of blood alcohol in the system every hour.

As far as the swabs go, it seems a lack of saliva by any means, the mouth do protest a positive result on a another enslavement regiem!

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Darkspark can attest to this one!
2 years ago I was on my way to Nimbin mardigrass, and had consumed about 3 'cones' about 1 hour before leaving for the 1 hour 20 min drive there. About 10-15 minutes out from nimbin I get the signal from a roadside van to pull over, and they do the usual breath test. Then he pulls out a 'swab', and says hes going to conduct a roadside swab, and asked if Id used one before, to which i answered 'no, but I know what they are'. He then asked if i had used any Cannabis or amphetamines in the past 48 hours, to which I replied,"I hate amphetamines. They're a horrible class of drugs.".
He says "So what about the other stuff?" and i say "Oh pot? thats a whole different kettle of fish, i wouldn't be attending a cannabis festival if i wasn't for it. "OFFICER: So when was the last time you had a smoke?" (I hate how they automatically assumed I smoked it?) ME: Looking at my car clock stating 10:11 am, thinking shit i cant tell them it was just over 2 hours ago "Ahhh about 6 oclock this morning when i woke up with all my mates". Officer: Ok well we'll just wait and see how the test goes then. I preceded to push the swab to the back of my mouth and scrape it correctly as he had instructed me to. I thought about not pressing down on the back of my outh when saliva accumulates, then dragging only on the tip, but i thought 'Stuff it. If todays the day, todays the day'. Please note I have no criminal history for anything ever, so this whole episode was freaking me out just a little. Gave the swab back to officer as i asked to hop out of car with friends for the 10-15 minute wait. He agreed, asked if i could have ciggi. He said nah not to test results back, I asked if friends still could. Happily replied yes. As friends spark up, Flouro-PLUR-combi-raver van drives by with guy with big black rasta dredlocks, and the officedr and I exchange friendly banter about why I got targeted in my white VS commodore, while they let the 'stereotypical' user happily go by. lol.

10 minutes later another guy pops his head out of the van and says to the officer I've been talking to and who swabbed me 'nah hes right', and the cop smiles & tells me i can go, wishes me a good time at mardigrass. Me and my friends went on our way, as we all breathed a sigh of relief. Me because I'm still squeaky, and my mates because they weren't 'thumbin-it' the last 15 km to Nimbin.

Please note I did not feel 'high' or 'under the influence' when I started my journey. As a somewhat regular user, after 1 hour from my '3 cones', I felt slightly relaxed maybe, and by the time I had the actual swab, almost 2 hours exactly after using', i felt very little- to no effects from the substance. Im pretty sure the anxiety at being swabbed 2 hours after using marijuana was justified, and not a result of the substance itself lol.

I had heard that they(AUS) actually roadside test for 11-Hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, abbreviated as 11-OH-THC, which is the primary and 'still active' first metabolite of Tetrahydrocannabinol(THC) or more precisely its main isomer (−)-trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol ((6aR,10aR)-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol).

This is instead of (like many countries) testing for 11-OH-THC's further metabolized and non-active in the psychoactive sense '11-nor-Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid' (THC-COOH). Which hangs around in the body long after use, and is most-often what your coming up against if your getting urine screened for work or legal purposes in AUS.

In short, I think because i didnt 'feel high', was legible and clearly alert during my conversation with the police, that their gas chromatography or whatever could not determine levels of 11-OH-THC sufficient enough to suggest that my cognition and or ability to drive was altered or impaired.

THC-COOH VS 11-OH-THC. The difference between USE and UNDER THE INFLUENCE


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Hi,

I will comment on this topic in relation to the situation in Germany.

In Germany the police has started drug testing drivers in 1998. Driving under the influence of drugs is a criminal offense and a driver loses his license for no less than two years. Besides being a criminal offense, driving under the influence of drugs is also subjected to what is called "Verwaltungsrecht", which translates to administation law. So in order to get yourlicense back after two years, you will have to pass a so called "Medizinisch Psychologische Untersuchung" (MPU), a medical and psychological assessment. During a period of 2 years you will randomly get called in to provide urine samples, which get analysed in a lab (no quick detection test) and are forensically accepted in court. You will also have to convince a psychologist that you have overcome your addiction/dependency. You have to pay for each drug test and for the psychological assessment.

Possession of drugs (besides cannabis) automatically leads to a "Verwaltungsrecht" infringement and you lose your license and have to do a MPU.

Although only active THC in the blood constitutes a criminal offence, elevated THC-COOH and other metabolites lead to you having to do a MPU as the authorities have serious doubts to believe that you are not addicted to the drug and, thus are seen as a potential danger on the road. You will have to prove that you give up cannabis in order to be allowed to drive again. And we all know that THC metabolites remain dettectable for up to 3 months, so if you are a regular smoker you're best off not driving...

In fact you can even lose your licence for walking around stoned since you actively part take in the road traffic as a pedestrian (happened to a mate of mine).

Now, to the road side testing:

The police will pull you up and come up with some story like your eyes are red. They will then put a little torch in your eyes and pretend that your pupils are not reacting as they should and they have serious reasons to believe that you are under the influence of narcotics. They will then pressure you to perform a urine test (quick test) which tests Cannabis,(substituted) Amphetamines, Opiates and cocaine. Now, urinating into a cup is an active process and you don't have to do it as this could be self-incremenating. If you refuse tehy will take you to the station and a blood sample will be taken.

If you do not agree with the blood sample but let them take it and it comes back negative, you can then press charges against the officers for aggravated assault, seeing that they have had someone insert a very sharp object into your arm.

The officers will get in trouble.

If the results are positive, well you lose your license etc...

The reason why it is advisable to not let the do a urine test ist that passive inhaling of cannabis will give a + reading, eating poppy seeds on your bread roll etc will test + for opiates.

So I think the situation is fairly relaxed here in Australia when it comes to drugs and losing your license (compared to the forth Reich)

Now about Australia:

How do those road side tests work? Do you spit into smthg? This would be self-incriminating? Perhaps you can refuse it on those grounds... Or does the cop swab inside your mouth with a cotton tip? This would be an invasive procedure with an officer inserting smthg into one of your body cavities. I'm sure you can refuse to let them do this. (I mean otherwise they might as well start to perform random roadside cavity searches)

If a blood test comes back negative and you have not given consent to it but have not stopped them from doing their job, could you take them to court for assault, like in Germany? I don't see why some cop should get away with getting a needle inserted into your arm just because he believes to be a psychopharmacologist/physiologist in uniform...

What is the situation with driving with legally prescribed Ritalin in Australia?

OK, I just read the above post. So you are meant to perform the swab yourself. I think this is definitely a form a self incrimination and you should be able to refuse to do it...

Edited by marcshroom

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I have a mate who used to run a hemp foods store online, and was involved in the whole hemp foods application to FSANZ.

Long story short he got his hands on NSW swabs to prove that the miniscule THC present in hemp foods weren't enough to be detectable. Of course this is just simple logic but you can't tell a fuckwit bureaucrat that. :BANGHEAD2:

I'm pretty sure there was a mention of either Vit C or Ascorbic/Citric acid nullifying THC present in saliva if taken just before testing. Not sure now though, it was a while back. :huh:

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not sure on the citric acid. i can just imagine the suspicion aroused when the cop come to ur window n ur downing a baggie of white powder as quick as u can!

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^^^

There must be some way to fool the mouth swabs, I'd love to experiment with a box of them.

i call mythbusters on this! get adam & jamie monged!

someone said mylanta but it make your poopoo valve leak.

Edited by wert

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so maybe washing thoroughly with an ethanol-based mouthwash? either that, or stick to shelving.

That might work for the swap, but what about the breath test ^^

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Not a drug swag story but I have heard of a friend of a friend trying to beat the RBT by chewing whole cigarettes. The policeman was puzzled to say the least ,when he couldn't talk, because his mouth was full of tobacco!

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lol....I know a copper that told me a few tales of desperate folk stalling before doing the at station breathalyser and asking to go to the toilet.....

only to get found eating the hand soap (which apparently is pretty common) ...or even one poor bastard who apparently was busted eating the "trough lollies".....rofl.

Remember if your are stupid enough to be busted for drink driving don't be a trough lolly munging idiot :wink:

EDIT - and my money is still on pickled onions for swabs (which does have citric acid in it amongst others)

Edited by waterboy

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