Robert Celt
New Member
Washington State Patrol Sgt. Mark Crandall half-jokingly says he can tell a driver is under the influence of marijuana during a traffic stop when the motorist becomes overly familiar and is calling him "dude."
The truth in the joke, Crandall says, is that attitude and speech patterns can be effective markers for drugged driving. And, according to legalization advocates and some in law enforcement, they can be more reliable than blood tests that measure THC – the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
When it comes time to go to court, the testimony of an officer trained as a drug recognition expert is often more valuable than a THC test because of disparities in how the drug impacts driving ability, Crandall said.
"Here's the really bad driving that I saw, here's the magnified impairment that I saw on the side of the road," he said. "It's telling a good story and making sure that it's backed up with facts, and evidence, and proof, and the ability of the officer to articulate it well."
As more states make medical and recreational marijuana use legal, they increasingly are grappling with what constitutes DUID, or driving under the influence of drugs, and how to detect and prosecute it. And they're finding it is more difficult than identifying and convicting drunken drivers.
While marijuana is the substance, other than alcohol, most frequently found in drivers involved in car accidents, the rate at which it actually causes crashes is unclear.
At least 17 states, including Washington, have "per se" laws, which make it illegal to have certain levels of THC in one's body while operating a vehicle, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Under these laws, no additional evidence is required to prove a driver is impaired.
Of those states, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington allow for some amount of THC to be found in a driver's blood, ranging from 1 to 5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Other states leave no wiggle room and consider any amount of THC to be impairing and grounds for being charged with DUID.
In Colorado, where recreational marijuana became legal in 2012, drivers are assumed to be under the influence of marijuana if they have THC levels of 5 ng/ml or higher, but the law also lets defendants produce evidence that they were not impaired.
Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington allow adult recreational use of marijuana, and another 18 states permit its use for medical purposes. More states are expected to permit recreational marijuana use as advocates push to put legalization initiatives on state ballots in 2016.
At an August 2015 NCSL meeting in Seattle, nearly all policymakers who attended a session on legalizing marijuana said they expected their states would soon have to debate legalization, if they haven't already. A study by the Pew Research Center released in April found that 53 percent of adults supported the legal use of marijuana.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: As Legal Marijuana Expands, States Struggle With Drugged Driving
Author: Sarah Breitenbach
Contact: Sun Times
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Sun Times
The truth in the joke, Crandall says, is that attitude and speech patterns can be effective markers for drugged driving. And, according to legalization advocates and some in law enforcement, they can be more reliable than blood tests that measure THC – the psychoactive compound in marijuana.
When it comes time to go to court, the testimony of an officer trained as a drug recognition expert is often more valuable than a THC test because of disparities in how the drug impacts driving ability, Crandall said.
"Here's the really bad driving that I saw, here's the magnified impairment that I saw on the side of the road," he said. "It's telling a good story and making sure that it's backed up with facts, and evidence, and proof, and the ability of the officer to articulate it well."
As more states make medical and recreational marijuana use legal, they increasingly are grappling with what constitutes DUID, or driving under the influence of drugs, and how to detect and prosecute it. And they're finding it is more difficult than identifying and convicting drunken drivers.
While marijuana is the substance, other than alcohol, most frequently found in drivers involved in car accidents, the rate at which it actually causes crashes is unclear.
At least 17 states, including Washington, have "per se" laws, which make it illegal to have certain levels of THC in one's body while operating a vehicle, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Under these laws, no additional evidence is required to prove a driver is impaired.
Of those states, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington allow for some amount of THC to be found in a driver's blood, ranging from 1 to 5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Other states leave no wiggle room and consider any amount of THC to be impairing and grounds for being charged with DUID.
In Colorado, where recreational marijuana became legal in 2012, drivers are assumed to be under the influence of marijuana if they have THC levels of 5 ng/ml or higher, but the law also lets defendants produce evidence that they were not impaired.
Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington allow adult recreational use of marijuana, and another 18 states permit its use for medical purposes. More states are expected to permit recreational marijuana use as advocates push to put legalization initiatives on state ballots in 2016.
At an August 2015 NCSL meeting in Seattle, nearly all policymakers who attended a session on legalizing marijuana said they expected their states would soon have to debate legalization, if they haven't already. A study by the Pew Research Center released in April found that 53 percent of adults supported the legal use of marijuana.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: As Legal Marijuana Expands, States Struggle With Drugged Driving
Author: Sarah Breitenbach
Contact: Sun Times
Photo Credit: None found
Website: Sun Times
