"Legal" Highs

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bigblockz8

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Gore
I met someone today who lost their certificate,job, and house thanks to a random drug test. The person tells me that they now do synthetic cannabis, aka "mojo" or "spice." It's an herbal incense and he said that it doesn't show up on drug tests. It supposedly gives the same high. I've heard stories about people buying urine during physicals or on the job tests but haven't found any proven instances,not to say that it doesn't occur.

I wonder if there are any other airline pilots out there that have drug addictions and either have tricks up their sleeves to get high while still at FL000 or simply cheat. I am looking for any FAA document to find out what's being done/what can happen. This apparently seems to be a loophole and might unfortunately end up in a NTSB report. If a "normal" drug test can't find it and the DEA keeps banning it while manufacturers keep changing the formula, how is it traceable?

Just sayin'...

Here's a link about the drug:
http://www.wwltv.com/news/Lawmakers-push-to-ban-mojo----legal-weed-86246942.html

A few other things that are popular highsare bath salts,aerosols,pain killers, paint thinner,etc. Hopefully any pilots doing this use common sense and don't fly.
 
Oh I should mention that the guy doesn't do anything aviation related of course.
 
People drive under the influence of something all the time. They work dangerous machinery, and they fly airplanes.

Years ago I had to make a duel cross country to Big Bear. The night before I decided to check the accident stats for that airport. I found three that looked interesting, and in every one of them, they found one drug or another during the autopsies. Two of those pilots were CFIs.

Random drug tests are good, but they will not stop the stupid among us. They reproduce and it keeps happening no matter what we or our officials do. I wonder how many times an "official" has busted someone for being under the influence while they themselves were under the influence?

It is a problem that is not going to go away anytime soon. Before you climb into a cockpit, or behind a wheel, if you are a user, try to think about what you are doing and how long it has been since your last usage of your chosen drug.

I don't much care about what happens to you, but what if you kill someone who actually contributes to our society?

John
 
Seems like every time someone comes up with something that appears not to be prohibited, it really is, by one interpretation of the law or another. While this can be a problem in some criminal prosecutions when the specific drug isn't listed in the governing criminal law, it's not a problem for the FAA. 91.15 prohibits "any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety," not any specific drug by name. That makes it pretty easy for the FAA to take your aviation tickets if they catch you using one of those so-called "legal" items which simply haven't been specifically prohibited in the criminal statutes.
 
First off, most states are "at will" for employers firing people. Unless you have some specific CBA or employment contract, they don't even need a reason. Employees here (much as pilots are) are advised to not come to work under the influence of even legal drugs or alcohol.
 
dmccormack said:
There's some subjects I don't waste time learning about.

This is one.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I must do so. I have a client who was charged with possession of this stuff. They are not a pilot and never will be so the FAA's perspective matters not however it is a scary situation. The "spice" is sold openly in stores and not on street corners and in back alleys. The packaging is stamped with the words " 100% Legal" or "contains no illegal substance" or "legal everywhere" of course its also stamped " not for human consumption"

Apparently some chemist somewhere takes the chemical chain and keeps tweaking it and tweaking it to stay onestep ahead of the law.

From the legal perspective it does not matter is the person smokes the stuff to get high especially if they are not intending to break the law. In reality its effects probably aren't that much different that tequila as far as the high goes but from a health perspective this stuff will mess you up. Bad Bad Bad stuff and I wouldn't get in a plane with anyone used that stuff.
 
Not that I condone drug usage, but isn't it interesting that our legal system pushes people in to partaking unknown, potentially more harmful substances that the known illegal substances they otherwise would have consumed.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Not that I condone drug usage, but isn't it interesting that our legal system pushes people in to partaking unknown, potentially more harmful substances that the known illegal substances they otherwise would have consumed.
Click to expand...

People are always going to game the system no matter what that system might be.
 
I have been involved in Fire/Rescue for about 15 years, and have responded to lots of accidents, many on the Interstate, some not. Unfortunately, it seems that whenever one of the parties involved is under the influence, it is they who survive minor injury and innocents who die or are severely injured as a result of the crash.
 
The Military has already banned "spice" as a substance not approved for use.
It has also been attributed to the cause of deaths.
 
The whole thing seems so bizarre to me:

"Bad" people take illegal drugs, weed, meth, coke, etc.

"Good" people take alcohol, cigarettes, Prozac, diet pills, Vicodin, etc.

"Good" people become "bad" people if they buy their Vicodin off the street vs. paying a willing doctor to write a script.

"Bad" people become "good" people if they give up illegal drugs and become chain smoking alcoholics.

Sounds like "spice" is falling into the "bad" peoples camp. Must not be any taxes or profits in it.
 
No clinical trials for this stuff, no studies of effects over the long term, no purity standards, so studies of the compounds produced by the side reactions when this stuff is synthesized.

Yep- go ahead & take it:rolleyes2:
 
AdamZ said:
Bad Bad Bad stuff and I wouldn't get in a plane with anyone used that stuff.
Click to expand...

Sometimes that is really hard to determine. People who rarely use mind altering substances are pretty easy to spot when they do. They are the ones most likely to find themselves locked up for DUIs.

Many chronic users function as good as anyone when performing simple tasks, because their bodies have habituated to the drug. For longtime pilots, drivers, and machinery operators, those are simple tasks.

Years ago I was married to an alcoholic. If I wasn't paying close attention, I would never know when she was using. My only clue was that her disposition and judgment, went subtly downhill, Other than that, she functioned as well as anyone. She never had hangovers, or never mentioned it. Her conversations were normal.

John
 
You want to see a really fun one, do a Google image search for "krokodil"
 
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