trey kule wrote:
As a peronal note.. I dont want to fly with anybody that is impaired from anything, but the reality is we do it all the time with some who have not had enough sleep, or maybe are a bit hungover..What bothers me is the total acceptance of smoking dope by some...As far as I know, they smoke dope for the effect, but somehow, through rationalization, they dont think it has any effect on them the next day..It takes a bit of reality denial to get your head around that fact.
I have been trying my best to bite my tongue on this topic, but as usual I cant take it anymore!
trey...you hit the nail on the head with your statement (I bolded and underlined) about not wanting to fly with anyone impaired from anything. This is the part of this entire thread that is being ignored with too much focus just on pot. Pilots (as a profession) are among the highest rate of abusers of alcohol in ALL industries (We also have one of the highest divorce rates). Alcoholism is rampant among pilots and I personally know 3 right now that are flying commercially with a suspended driver`s licence for multiple DUI`s. I have also personally flown with MANY hung over pilots and always believed they shouldnt be in or near a cockpit in that condition. I have even sent guys home that I knew were barely 4 hours off the bottle, let alone the 8 required. Just because alcohol is legal, it doesnt make it safer or less harmful to the pilot than marijuana.
I am neither an advocate for or against alcohol or Marijuana. I have done both to excess at points in my life and feel I can comment on the effects of both drugs. I have not had a drink of alcohol in over 7 years by choice. It was never a problem for me, I just decided that I didnt like the after effects of it.
My question is what was it like for CPL`s during prohibition? 30s, 40s? If they had the internet then, they would have been debating the same thing as we are debating, but about illegal alcohol and not illegal marijuana.
In all honesty, I dont believe there is a place for either alcohol or marijuana in any cockpit of any plane. I am PROUD to say I have never once flown under the influence of anything, not even hung over, even once... but to suggest that marijuana has more harmful (side) after effects than abusing alcohol, well you just need to take a course or something. If a gun was put to my head and I had to decide to get onboard a 737 with A) A hung over captain who polished off a 26er of vodka the night before his 0700 departure...vs a guy who smoked a joint at 2000 the night before to help him fall asleep...I would gladly accept the Captain with a bit of THC in his blood vs a guy who is likely still more than 40% impaired by excessive alcohol.
Come one guys, we all flew with "those guys and gals" the ones that drank themselves into a stupor most nights and still got up at 0600 to fly. Those are the pilots that truly scare me. Our justice system scares me when they will allow a person with 3 DUI`s to retain their Pilot`s licence and be responsible for 100s of lives everyday...but they wont allow them to drive a car?
I said originally in my post that im not an advocate for either alcohol or marijuana, but I will say if alcohol is legal than marijuana should be equally legal. Just because something is legal, doesnt mean its suddenly ok to do it.
If you fly impaired on ANY substance (legal or not) you are quite simply a fool. Flying hung over from abusing alcohol is equally as impairing as smoking a joint and flying 4 hours later. BOTH are insane and yet alcohol gets a pass every day in our industry. Oh there goes Joe again, he sure looks hung over today, sure glad im not paired with him today. We all see it, everyday, hung over pilots that drank too much the night before. Where is the poll for that xsbank? Why are we targetting only marijuana? I realize we are discussing the YZF C208 crash and the fact the pilot had copious amounts of THC in his blood...but what about all the crashes where the pilot was over .08 or worse? They get little media attention because after all, its legal to drink so the poor pilot just had an addiction to a legal substance so he/she gets sympathy and understanding. This pilot in the 208 may not have smoked for 3 days before his flight, but may have smoked a quarter ounce at a party the previous sat night. Who knows, but I do know that alcohol is a far worse drug than marijuana will ever be.
I remember my parents warning me as a kid about the dangers of smoking a "marijuana cigarette" as my dad called them. They said it was a gateway drug that led to harder and harder drugs. Well folks, I loved my parents very much but sadly they were wrong on the whole marijuana thing. I took my 1st puff off a joint when I was 14 years old (under a huge amount of peer pressure) and as an adult I did smoke an occasional joint on a weekend or at a party (in my 20s and into my mid 30s). I have never once tried ANY other drug of any type at any point in my life. Marijuana and alcohol were easily mind altering enough for anything I wanted to experience. It never led me down a dark path to harder drugs, nor did it become a vice. Today I neither smoke weed or drink. By choice. The fact is that marijuana used occasionally is no different than the guy who comes home after a hard days work and has 2 rum and cokes to "chill out" after 12 hours on the flightdeck. Ask any medical doctor if you dont believe me.
After PM Harper leaves in 2015, marijuana will be legal within 2 years of him leaving office. Its looking more and more like young Trudeau will be our next PM and if you recall before another Liberal PM left office, he almost pushed the legislation through the house for decriminalization of marijuana. A young Trudeau as PM will finish what Chretien started and marijuana will be a legal substance before too long. I think what we need to be debating is how we will regulate it`s use in our industry, because if you dont believe the guy next to you smokes pot, your a bit nieve to say the least. Sadly, I know dozens of pilots that smoke weed on a regular basis and this is simply a fact. Most wont come out and admit it on a public forum, but ive seen it far more than I wish I had.
The fact remains, there are more pilots smoking pot than anyone wants to admit.
Fly safe and SOBER all.
PS... I was (of course) drug & alcohol tested when I had my crash in 2008. My blood was clean of everything, including THC. I am not just some pothead that is trying to support his cause. I am trying to keep this as real as possible...and reality is that alcohol has further reaching side effects than pot and almost all doctors agree with that statement. Pot didnt kill this pilot...unless he was foolish enough to spark up an hour ahead of schedule! I know the level of THC is a contributing factor...but not the main factor.
