Days before Massachusetts voters approved legalizing marijuana, opponents seized on stoned driving as an issue, warning that law enforcement officials do not have a way to find out if a driver is impaired by the substance.
Legalization supporters noted police can pull a vehicle over if they believe the driver is impaired while driving. What’s missing is the ability to prove in court the impairment occurred, and that’s been the case despite Massachusetts decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana in 2008 and approving medical marijuana in 2012.
Add to that the fact that cannabis can stay in your system for weeks after you use the substance, and it can affect different people in different ways.
But new technology, such as "intelligent finger-printing" and saliva tests, which could be deployed roadside, is supposedly on the way.
Hound Labs is working to create the first dual marijuana and alcohol breathalyzer.
"We have tremendous interest from not only law enforcement and employers who are struggling with this problem," CEO Mike Lynn told KTXL in Sacramento. "But also the cannabis industry who knows you can’t be driving high. Everybody really accepts that."
KTXL reported that the product could be available next year and cost up to $1,000.
But as an article in Scientific American recently noted, "science still lacks data correlating the presence of THC" the main ingredient in cannabis "and actual impairment."
"Getting such data could cost millions of dollars in human trials, and the effects of the drug vary tremendously between users," Scientific American added.
The article sounded a cautious note.
"Although many researchers and companies dream of fielding a roadside test for driving under the influence of cannabis, such a product may still remain years away from practical service use," the article noted. "Millions of dollars’ worth of speculative research will likely be needed to correlate data about consumption amounts with actual driver impairment."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Marijuana Breathalyzer Test Under Development, But Questions Remain Over Judging Whether Driver Is Actually Impaired
Author: Gintautas Dumcius
Contact: MassLive
Photo Credit: Robert F. Bukaty
Website: MassLive
