How long will your marijuana high last? What researchers are doing wrong

Researchers in Australia found that you can be stoned for up to 10 hours depending on the means and effectiveness of the cannabis you use.

Impairment is important because it is the indicator that determines whether people can drive or not. There are currently no real standards for the duration of poisoning, mainly because the impairment of cannabis varies from person to person.

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For example, depending on your tolerance levels, a high can only last an hour. However, the prevalence of THC would be high. Therefore, the presence of THC does not indicate poisoning, but due to the slow nature of the legislative reform, the “presence of THC” could be more than enough to revoke one’s license.

According to these researchers, an edible can last up to 10 hours, while smoking a high potency pot can last up to three hours. However, this information helps consumers more than law enforcement agencies and does nothing to protect cannabis patients from legal scrutiny.

How do you measure depreciation?

I wrote about the DRUID app a few months ago which tests your reaction time to basic eye motor responses. This, in my opinion, is one of the more accurate means of detecting minor impairments, at least to the point where we can see that “response time” is being affected.

We know that the prevalence of THC in the blood does not tell you whether or not someone is stoned. This is because THC binds to lipids and can remain in your body in detectable amounts for up to a month afterwards.

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Trace elements of THC can be found up to 90 days after consumption.

Another way law enforcement measures impairment is to have the suspect driver do some motor exercises to see if they are impaired or not.

But as the DRUID founder told me, people can learn how to pass these tests with enough practice. You may be drunk or stoned, but you can train your muscle memory to pass the test – and some drunks do just that!

Why non-stoners shouldn’t be the only ones “running things”

Why do “non-consumers” tell consumers how to consume?

This is something I’ve noticed for a while – we created most of our “drug laws” by people who have never used a single “drug” in their life.

Some may argue that you need an “objective assessment” of the type of drug in order to determine how to and not to use it. The problem with this assessment is that you would know how the drug affects the individual without actually experiencing the drug for yourself.

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Knowing what is happening in the brain when you look at it through an MRI scan is not the same as experiencing the changes in the brain. However, researchers believe they “know” how it is.

I ask, were these researchers who found you were stoned for anywhere from 3 to 10 hours ever stoned themselves? When Yes, how much? Do you know how an experienced cannabis user metabolizes cannabis, or what are your indications for an “average user”?

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You see, cannabis use is purely subjective and over time the effects diminish as you increase your tolerance level.

Then how can you definitely say “at least 3 hours” without testing the person right after smoking weed?

We need a standard, don’t we?

This is also an important point. We need a “standard” for poisoning. Unlike alcohol, where blood alcohol levels are a fairly reliable indicator of impairment, cannabis does not have the same reliability.

For this reason, technical solutions such as the DRUID app are being investigated. Other means are currently in production to test this as we need a standard.

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The ultimate purpose of these types of tests is to make the roads safer for people. We don’t want people to drive under the influence of drugs mainly because they are behind the wheel of an accelerating piece of metal (aka their cars).

While it is important to have a set standard for cannabis poisoning, we shouldn’t just give a number arbitrarily.

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Personally, I think at least two hours is enough time to drop your altitude if you smoke. However, I agree that if you are eating groceries, you probably shouldn’t be driving at all.

How long does it take you to sober up?

Depending on the load and potency, I get “sober” after about 90 minutes. Of course, I’ve been smoking weed for over 20 years and have a pretty good understanding of my own tolerance levels.

It would be interesting to know – at least from a purely subjective point of view – how long it takes to sober up after smoking weed.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and was republished with permission.