A thought on pot-driving: medical marijuana or not, if pot impairs driving to any degree at all on the same order as alcohol does then it should certainly be a no-no. There are other drugs that are prescribed for people with warnings not to drive while under their influence (although I don’t know if there’s much in the way of a legal “bite” if you end up having an accident while impaired by a legally prescribed drug.)

I’d say that the ultimate solution there may be some sort of mandatory testing involved when one starts up a car. Regardless of drinking/drugs or just plain ordinary abilities… if you can’t pass the eye/hand coordination or perceptual tests built into the cars computer it simply won’t start. I’d say there’s a pretty reasonable argument to be made that ten percent or more of the driving population out there should simply be forbidden to drive in general. People would squawk, but the roads would be safer. We don’t just let anyone fly after all: I’m betting a fair number who try to learn eventually have to accept that they’ll just never be good enough to get a licence… so maybe the same should be true for driving!

– MJM