Pubdate: Sun, 04 Apr 2004 Source: Reno Gazette-Journal (NV) Copyright: 2004 Reno Gazette-Journal Contact: http://www.rgj.com/helpdesk/news/letter_to_editor.php Website: http://www.rgj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/363 Author: Kurt Unger Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1310/a07.html Note: Title provided by newshawk DEATH OF POLICE OFFICER NOT THE ONLY TRAGEDY The death of Reno police officer Mike Scofield is a tragedy. The law that dictates the minimum threshold of marijuana in a person's system that causes impairment is causing tragic results. While Nevada is within its rights to criminalize marijuana, it has far exceeded those rights by linking impairment with presence. Numerous studies show that 2 nanograms per milliliter is not indicative of impairment. Toxicologists have found it impossible to quantify an exact impairment cutoff for marijuana because of the extreme effects that frequency of use and body fat have on residual THC levels. But prosecutors didn't have to show impairment in Ms. Jackson's case; mere presence was enough to convict. The Nevada marijuana law is akin to labeling a driver alcohol-impaired who has a BAC of 0.01 (DUI threshold is 0.08). Nevada legislators who enacted the per-se marijuana impairment law must have hoped to see declines in drugged driving injuries. While that is noble, creating an arbitrary threshold that links impairment with presence is immoral and only serves to replace one tragedy with another. How many Ms. Jacksons will it take before the Legislature acts? Kurt Unger Sparks - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin