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

This might seem like common sense – or perhaps already covered under existing impaired driving laws – but legislators insist the law will close a gaping loophole left by Proposition 64, the ballot measure California voters approved in November that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Prop. 64 does ban the presence of an open container of marijuana in a vehicle, but it doesn’t say anything about using marijuana while driving.

The measure was proposed by two Democractic lawmakers, Assemblyman Evan Low and Senator Jerry Hill.

Drunk driving and impaired driving has been a signature issue for Hill, of San Mateo. He’s the one prevailed last year in his fight for a law that requires temporary breathalyzers in motor vehicles belonging to certain DUI offenders hoping to regain their driver’s license privileges. This technology, widely referred to as ignition interlock, disallows a vehicle from starting if a motorist’s blood-alcohol concentration is above the legal limit. Hill explained that driving under the influence of any substance puts us all at risk.

We don’t disagree with this statement, but marijuana users face difficulty in proving their innocence that drivers who use alcohol or other drugs do not. As it stands, currently law forbids driving while under the influence of alcohol, marijuana or other drugs – including those offered by prescription. However, there is no breathalyzer for marijuana the way there is for alcohol. Neither is there any sort of standard in place for an officer to ascertain a person’s level of marijuana impairment. It’s largely subjective.

Blood draws and urine tests are sometimes used, but the problem is the samples taken can’t stipulate whether someone is currently under the influence or if the drug was still in the body from some prior usage. Prop. 64 tasked researchers with the University of California and law enforcement officers with the California Highway Patrol with conjuring up the best practices and protocols for determining marijuana impairment. That work hasn’t yet begun, so we don’t know what that recommendation will look like.

We do know that if SB 65 passes, it will make using marijuana while operating a motor vehicle an infraction or misdemeanor charge that could result in fines and possibly jail time, in addition to requirements to attend drug and/or alcohol education and counseling courses. (Judges would be granted the discretion of whether to charge the defendant with an infraction or misdemeanor.)

Technology for roadside testing of marijuana consumption is still in the works.

Our marijuana DUI defense lawyers are committed to fighting for the rights of marijuana users arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. We recognize that the proof burden is on prosecutors, and there are a number of possible defense strategies that can be effectively employed. These range from moving to suppress certain evidence (i.e., if the stop was unlawful, etc.) to challenging the veracity of the physical evidence.

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

Additional Resources:

New California bill would explicitly prohibit marijuana consumption for drivers, Dec. 30, 2016, Bay City News 4

More Blog Entries:

Marijuana Industry Poised to Generate Many New Jobs, Jan. 4, 2017, L.A. Marijuana DUI Defense Lawyer Blog