understand how marijuana use impairs driving. The study is the largest of its kind and seeks to gather some hard data on levels of cannabis and impacts on common driving scenarios, according to High Times. Participants will be paid for a full-day driving assessment in which they will smoke a joint before completing a variety of simulated driving scenarios. The joints are rolled on site, and each has a varying level of THC concentrations carefully monitored by the researchers.

The study has two aims: to gather data on how different cannabis concentrations affect different drivers and to examine how long the high from THC will continue to affect the driver to the point of impairment, if at all. These answers are so crucial in the on-going efforts to legalize marijuana nationwide. A huge roadblock for many politicians, even the ones who do not fall for weak anti-marijuana propaganda, is the uncertainty about how to regulate marijuana usage on the roads. Methods that commonly are used to test for marijuana can detect it in a person’s system for up to two weeks. Clearly a person would not be too impaired to drive for 14 days after consuming marijuana. Therefore, law enforcement officers must rely on field sobriety tests to determine cannabis-related impairment. Their current tests, however, are largely geared toward alcohol or drugs that create a deep level of impairment. The effects of cannabis are often softer and less clear. Participants in this study will take a field sobriety test after smoking and completing driving tests, which in turn could help officers fine-tune their own tests to more effectively identify impairment for marijuana users.Besides regulation efforts, most marijuana consumers are responsible users who want information on how to best monitor themselves and make good decisions about driving. When a person is given a strong prescription, the label has a warning if the patient should not drive or operate machinery. Alcohol labels show the proof on the label, and people begin to learn even before they are 21 about the ways alcohol affects the body and how to safely consume it once they hit a legal age. Cannabis users want similar safety information, and they want it to be realistic and not overly cautious to the point of ridiculousness.

This study will just be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to analyzing cannabis use and driving. As our L.A. marijuana DUI lawyers know, there are many more ways to consume cannabis than just smoking a joint, and each one affects the body differently. Edibles, vaping, lotions, tinctures — they each vary greatly in the ways they work, how long they take to feel the effects, and how long the sensation lasts. This study is an important beginning to research into cannabis safety, but there will be much more work ahead of us. Our team of marijuana DUI defense attorneys understand the many factors at play when it comes to marijuana and driving. If you are arrested for a cannabis-related DUI, our attorneys are prepared to use our vast knowledge and experience to build your case.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

Massive Study On Driving High To Take Place In California, July 27, 2018, By Paul Gaita, The Fix

More Blog Entries:

Pennsylvania Must Ditch Harsh Marijuana DUI Law, June 17, 2018, Cannabis Law Group

While it should be noted that many studies that compare the effects of driving while on alcohol versus marijuana show that driving under the influence of marijuana is not nearly as dangerous as driving while drunk, it is not safe to drive when under the influence of marijuana. However, one major issue is determining if someone is driving under the influence of marijuana, and if so, what is the level of intoxication.It is not illegal to drink and drive, even though people often say it is. It is illegal to drink to the point of intoxication and drive. This could mean drinking beyond the legal limit of 0.08 grams of alcohol per hundred milliliters of blood or drinking a lesser amount, but still being intoxicated. This presents the issue of if it is legal to smoke marijuana, is there a legal limit for that as well?

In addition to not having enough evidence to define a legal limit properly, a urine test will test for the presence of a cannabis metabolite, but it will not give the levels of THC in a person’s system. This means that the police can show you used marijuana in the past month or so, but that doesn’t reflect how much marijuana you used just prior to driving. If you have been charged with driving under the influence of marijuana, you should speak to an experienced marijuana defense lawyer in Los Angeles about this issue.

As discussed in a recent article from The Sacramento Bee, police in California are trying to use a roadside saliva test to determine if drivers are under the influence of marijuana. The test involves officers taking a mouth swab similar to a buccal swab taking when collecting DNA, and then putting the swab in a machine known as an Alere DDS2. The makers of this machine that sells for around $6,000 per unit claim it can detect up to six drugs in a person’s saliva, including THC.

As it turns out, they did not convince the California Highway Patrol, who decided not to purchase the machines after nearly a year of testing. They are convinced they work, but are not convinced the results will be allowed in court. There are variety of reasons for this. One is that with a new scientific testing method, prosecutors must demonstrate that it is scientifically accurate and meets certain criteria to be considered reliable evidence. The judge is supposed to act as the gatekeeper in this regard, and there will likely be a lot of litigation and appeals over these machines. For example, a DNA test is considered accurate and reliable and is allowed in court. On the other hand, a polygraph (lie detector) is considered unreliable junk science and is not allowed in court. There is a good reason polygraphs are not allowed in court, because the machine operator can interpret the results any way they are asked.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

California police looking to nab marijuana-impaired drivers with roadside saliva test, May 11, 2017, By Taryn Luna, The Sacramento Bee

More Blog Entries:

Anti-Cannabis Campaign Faces Violations, April 18, 2017, L.A. Marijuana Lawyer Blog

Both proponents and opponents of greater marijuana access laws generally agree on the fact that those who are under the influence of the drug shouldn’t be operating a motor vehicle. It’s well-established that THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana, has the potential to negatively impact driver performance (i.e., cognitive and motor abilities) and thus traffic safety. Where these two groups diverge is how we address this issue.

Understandably, lawmakers and traffic safety advocates want a solution that will keep marijuana-impaired individuals off the road. But the solution they reached is one that doesn’t make the roads safer and unfortunately may ensnare innocent people in criminal cases.

A per se limit is a designated amount of the substance in question which, if exceeded, is supposed to indicate impairment.

Per se limits work when it comes to alcohol impairment. Everywhere you go in the country, the standard limit for one’s blood alcohol limit is 0.08 units of mass alcohol per volume of blood. So there are 0.08 grams of alcohol for every deciliter of blood. The reason this system works for alcohol impairment is that alcohol is processed rapidly by the system. If someone tests high on that scale, chances are good that individual is not sober.

But marijuana is processed differently. THC may build up in one’s system and remain over time – even long after the cognitive and psychomotor effects of the drug have worn off. As our Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyers know, this means a person who regularly uses marijuana – say, for medicine – may have a high level of THC in their blood, but they aren’t in fact impaired.

Ultimately, per se driving limits make it a crime to operate a car while they have any detectable amount of marijuana in their system – even absent any other proof the driver was impaired.

The AAA study wanted to determine whether there was any proof that per se laws to prevent marijuana impaired drivers made sense. Researchers analyzed the records of 602 drivers who were arrested for DUI and in which only THC was present in the driver’s blood. Researchers also looked at 349 control samples and another 4,799 drivers arrested for DUI who tested positive for one or more cannabinoid.

They found that in comparison to the drug-free controls, those who were arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana tested more poorly in a number of psychophysical tests (finger-to-nose, one-leg-stand, walk-and-turn, etc.). However, in terms of figuring out a quantitative threshold for per se laws, researchers determined one “cannot be scientifically reported.”

These findings are in line with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which has conceded that establishing a relationship between a person’s THC blood or plasma concentration and impairment is “inadvisable” when it’s based solely on the amount of THC in a person’s system.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

An Evaluation of Data from Drivers Arrested for Driving Under the Influence in Relation to Per Se Limits for Cannabis, May 2016, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

More Blog Entries:

Driver Allegedly High on Medical Marijuana Caused Crash Resulting in Trooper’s Death, June 1, 2016, L.A. Marijuana DUI Arrest Lawyer Blog