Did I do the right thing?

[reanjr]

Boy I tell ya, pot smokers are getting pretty brave lately. I've seen 3 different people light up on one of those tiny little pot pipes in traffic in the last 3 months. What the heck gives man?

Many people I know are forced to drive and smoke because of the limited number of places available to smoke.

Besides, it's become decriminalized throughout the world. Police forces don't even want to deal with it because the law is so petty when there are other important laws to enforce. On several occasions, I've seen or heard from people who have seen, officers stop someone from smoking in their car (parked) or in a public place, but all they do is make sure the stuff is thrown out and, if there is one, take the pipe away.

If you include underage drinkers, and people who go to the doctor to get a prescription when they don't really need it, it seems half the country (US) are or were illegal drug users. Marijuana use has become fairly accepted and will only continue to be more accepted as the years go by. I'd put money that, in Michigan (where I live), it will be decriminalized within a generation. Canada (Ontario) already did so and I think our proximity to several major metropolitan areas up there will slowly influence public opinion.

Oh, and the pipes are generally referred to as bowls even though the term technically only applies to the area of the pipe that the marijuana is placed in. I think this is primarily to distinguish it from a traditional tobacco pipe. Glass pipe is probably the correct way to describe the particular illicitly used variety of pipe. Though this can then create confusion with the pipe varieties used for smoking crack.

 

[reanjr]

Au contraire...

This of course depends on whether one is referring to drunk as a legal or descriptive term. Not to mention the state-to-state differences in what defines drunk. I know plenty of people who can be legally drunk and suffer no measurable impairment to their faculties (I am not one of them). I even know one alcoholic whose faculties are impaired when sober, but not once he has a few drinks in him.

 

[Torm]

I'd say you almost certainly did the right thing. Anybody irresponsible enough to drive while high is not someone you want to entrust any part of your future to if you can help it. It does suck though, when you see someone worth saving, but they won't save themselves. And you can't if they won't meet you halfway.

Last night I tried to leave. Cried so much I could not believe, she was the same girl I fell in love with long ago. She went in the back to get high, I sat out on the couch and cried out, 'oh mama, please help me - won't you hold my hand.' - "Let Her Cry" by Hootie and the Blowfish

 

[loki44]

Where I'm coming from, chugging booze and smoking pot while driving is pretty frickin' far across the line.

Again, all illegal activities as outlined in these posts are alleged and therefore of no consequence to me.....my point simply being that nothing in any relationship is ever as simple as any given whatever that elicits a kneejerk reaction. The guy obviously didn't feel threatened enough by her behavior to do anything about it during the time that he wanted to be with her (i.e. he wasn't threatened enough by her behavior to get out of the car or do anything about it "a number of times" since, by his own admission, it happened "a number of times"). He only decided to report her to the cops after the relationship didn't work for him anymore. Just sounds like sour grapes to me. I'm sure it's an unpopular opinion but the fact that he decided to report her to the cops only after he no longer had any personal stake in the relationship seems to me to be self-serving, vindictive, petty and disingenuous.

 

[Torm]

Just sounds like sour grapes to me. I'm sure it's an unpopular opinion but the fact that he decided to report her to the cops only after he no longer had any personal stake in the relationship seems to me to be self-serving, vindictive, petty and disingenuous.

I'll grant that I can see what you're saying, but I don't think you're empathisizing with his situation quite enough. If you're right about the motive, that would be horrible, but it seems to me (and I could be wrong, only KenM knows for sure) that he had held out hope that he could redeem his situation with her, and her from the abuse, up until he couldn't any longer, and the same logic and feeling that led him to the conclusion that it was time to break things off was identical to the logic and feeling that led him to decide he needed to make her abuse someone else's problem to fix (like the po-po).

I know there are problems with that chain of logic, but aren't there always when you're trying to be in love with someone? Self-delusion, etc.

BTW: My compliments on the set of adjectives at the end of your post. Seriously. But you forgot 'callow'.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Where I'm coming from, chugging booze and smoking pot while driving is pretty frickin' far across the line.

Agreed. You definitely did the right thing KenM.

 

[d20Dwarf]

I'm appalled by the number of people in this thread that think it's "uncool" to report drunk drivers. How cool would it be if a drunk driver killed someone you care about, even if that only applies to yourself?

 

[Pbartender]

Again, all illegal activities as outlined in these posts are alleged and therefore of no consequence to me.....my point simply being that nothing in any relationship is ever as simple as any given whatever that elicits a kneejerk reaction. The guy obviously didn't feel threatened enough by her behavior to do anything about it during the time that he wanted to be with her (i.e. he wasn't threatened enough by her behavior to get out of the car or do anything about it "a number of times" since, by his own admission, it happened "a number of times"). He only decided to report her to the cops after the relationship didn't work for him anymore. Just sounds like sour grapes to me. I'm sure it's an unpopular opinion but the fact that he decided to report her to the cops only after he no longer had any personal stake in the relationship seems to me to be self-serving, vindictive, petty and disingenuous.

Man, that sounds like the closing statement of a defense attorney.

 

[Mark]

I'm appalled by the number of people in this thread that think it's "uncool" to report drunk drivers. How cool would it be if a drunk driver killed someone you care about, even if that only applies to yourself?

I've only skimmed the thread but it seems the first person who thought it to be "uncool" only felt that way from September until April, at which point it became, if not "cool", at least a civic duty. So much so that a single call would not do. Apparently each and every law enforcement facility in the area needed to be contacted because something changed in April to bring this threat to the fore. Does one now follow up with the media to ensure that law enforcement brings swift action? Personally, I find the timing to be convenient to other interests than those of the community. As to being about getting drunks off of the road, one could sit outside a tavern on any given night with a cellphone and make half a dozen calls that could save a life if one had a mind to do so. It remains to be seen if KenM's civic-mindedness spills over into May.

 

[reanjr]

I'm appalled by the number of people in this thread that think it's "uncool" to report drunk drivers. How cool would it be if a drunk driver killed someone you care about, even if that only applies to yourself?

It's fine to report an incident as it happens (like I just saw this guy walk out of the bar trashed and get in his car, he's driving down Main St East from Johnny's Pub), but I don't think it is appropriate to call the police and tell them about someone you feel is a habitual lawbreaker (I see this one guy, license OMG 123, always drives drunk from Johnny's Pub).