hell, even the local fishwrap is carrying articles about how there really aren't the problems that were predicted (and the fishwrap is a total reichwing rag)

at the media source and the anti-legalization advocates:

http://www.newsweek.com/problem-pot-306634

I appreciate the links.

than big Farm Agribiz.

I'm just trying to give my wife factual info over the drug war bullshit she listened to today.

It has been an ongoing problem -growers need to be educated about pesticides - first link is recent and 2nd link from last year - it was the Denver Fire Dept that made the toxic pesticide use discovery so now the Dept of Environmental Health said they will begin testing. Marijuana grown outdoors is more apt to be pesticide free.

but I do worry about people driving while under the influence. It's a genuine issue that needs to be addressed, but I'm not claiming I have an answer of any kind. I'm under the impression that for some time after one has smoked pot, it still shows up in the bloodstream, (the urine also?) long after a person is impaired in any way, Alcohol is much more straightforward in this respect.

I am NOT claiming an increase in accidents because of legal marijuana. All I'm saying is that we need to be aware of a potential problem here. Responsible people won't drive while impaired. Alas, a lot of people are not responsible.

A virtue, so to speak, of alcohol is that it is easily tested for, and standards for impairment have been set. I will say I'm constantly surprised at the people who still drive while under the influence. I live in a state (NM) that has an enormous problem here. I have never lived in a state where people more or less regularly get on the interstate driving in the wrong direction because they're drunk, and cause a terrible accident. Especially when you consider how low the population is here.

What they test for is one of the most common metabolites--THC-COOH. It's presence tells you nothing about actual blood THC levels.

So that means that there is no way of accurately testing degree of impairment, unlike with alcohol.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one who thinks smoking grass is automatically bad and should be forbidden. I did a reasonable share of it in my own youth. But because impairment can have serious consequences, this is something that ought to be figure out. But not in a purely punitive way.

--IMO, what is vastly more dangerous is for people like me (highly sensitive to the soporific effects of cannabis) to use any strain with significant amounts of gamma-cannabinoids or cannabinol. You can get CBD extracts online because CBD is not psychoactive, but as you might guess from the name, an extract with cannabidiol is also likely to contain cannabinol, and they don't test for it. That's why I ingest my CBD right before bedtime only.

It isn't at all clear how dangerous THC itself is, given that the 44% figure given might merely reflect byproducts in a driver impaired by alcohol or lack of sleep. Drunk drivers will be in the HOV lane doing 90, and stoned drivers in the slow lance doing 45. The latter isn't safe, but probably not as bad as the formern.

What's worth noting about the "accident" story is, the actual number of accidents didn't change AFAIU, what changed was how many people involved in the accidents had detectable THC.

Again, THC which can be detected 3 weeks after smoking. No one is seriously trying to suggest that people are impaired 3 weeks after smoking a joint.

What's different, now, is that marijuana is legal, so perhaps there is a greater percentage of the population using it recreationally, and thus a greater percentage walking around with detectable levels even long after not being impaired. Some percentage of those people, unfortunately, get into fatal car accidents, just as they did before.

It's like saying "the number of people involved in fatal accidents who also have a facebook account, skyrocketed from 2006-2016!" The implication that the facebook accounts caused the car crashes is fallacious.

As far as pesticides in cannabis, the best argument against that is legalization.

Voila: Legalization and regulation in action-

https://www.oregon.gov/ODA/programs/Pesticides/Pages/CannabisPesticides.aspx