Cops: Crash was caused by fatigue, not pot. AP: Driver smoked pot day before crash!

[Batboy]

This is some fucked up reporting and, IMO, related to Cali's upcoming Prop 19 vote. (yeah yeah, I know that this happened in Utah, not CA). A few people here have predicted a rise in the news reports demonizing pot in the weeks leading up to the Prop 19 vote. Here we go . . .

Summary - Guy smoked heavily in the days leading up to the crash. Did NOT smoke the day of the crash. He flipped the bus he was driving, killing 3 and injuring 11. Cops said "the main reason we feel this happened was that he was driving too many hours and didn't have enough sleep." That does not make for a good headline; how about DRIVER SMOKED POT HEAVILY DAY BEFORE CRASH are you fucking kidding me?

Also, he is being charged with a misdemeanor for having residue in his system even though he wasn't impaired. Are you fucking kidding me? Fuck Utah.



http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jvBgNaKNWgGY-F9erxEe0J3eZU6QD9IDGUQG0

 

[Cool Moe]

Batboy you hit the nail right on the head. I thought it was strange when I saw the report of this accident mentioning marijuana consumption the day before the crash. I saw it on msnbc or cnn so it somehow made it to the major newsites. Kinda said to myself that the reporter must be misinformed or an anti-weed brainwashed robot. Now it makes perfect sense. It's anti-Prop 19 agenda-driven bullshit reporting. What do they do, pay AP or CNN or MSNBC to get this propaganda into the mainstream news? From a marijuana advocate's perspective, what's the best way to counter this ?

 

[Brother Bear]

Utah is one state i will never visit, for many reasons just like this one.

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

From a marijuana advocate's perspective, what's the best way to counter this ?

Donate to the Yes On Prop19 effort.

Every dollar gives them more ability to counter misinformation from the other side.

Other ways to go about it, but that is prolly the easiest way to help.

 

[BlueberryLovr]

The LA Times has been increasingly publishing articles demonizing mmj dispensaries claiming that they increase crime. I thought those were bad, but this one definitely takes the cake!

Gotta love ignorance.

 

[!!!]

At least the investigators are on his side.

"The main reason we feel this accident happened was that he was driving too many hours and didn't have enough sleep the night before," Bauer told reporters in a teleconference call Wednesday from Cedar City.
Investigators don't believe Mikuni was impaired while driving, Bauer said. But Utah law doesn't allow a driver to have even a trace of an illicit drug in his or her system, and "that's something he's going to have to answer for," he said.

What usually happens when people are charged with having cannabis metabolites while driving? Can lawyers usually fight this charge and win?

 

[grasspass]

Arizona and Nevada have this law too, and maybe others. Minnesota has a similar law , but they exclude marijuana .

 

[Japanfreakier]

I thought the reporting was very fair considering that the kid killed 3 people. At the time of the crash which made huge news here my wife and I both said, "He was probably partying the night before" because that's what most Japanese exchange students in cali are like, they party all night and show up tired for these kinds of jobs.

 

[Hammerhead]

That's like the lady that was giver her 2 year old a spliff to smoke and recorded it on her cell and sent it to her friend. This lady was off her rocker but these stories are going to get big coverage in the coming months

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/16/mom-charged-with-teaching-2-year-old-to-smoke-pot/