Pubdate: Mon, 17 Mar 2014
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2014 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: http://www.newsok.com/voices/guidelines
Website: http://newsok.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Robert Medley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

DRUGGED DRIVING CAN BE COSTLY, SAY STATE LAW OFFICERS

Oklahoma City police Sgt. David Roberts noticed a driver swerve into 
oncoming traffic.

As he was pulling over the car, he saw the driver roll down all four 
windows. Out came clouds of smoke.

"I saw the smoke and smelled the odor of burnt marijuana," Roberts 
recalled. Once the driver stopped, Roberts walked up to the car and 
asked the driver, "Have you been smoking?"

The driver was honest: "Yes."

The driver went to jail on a complaint of driving under the influence 
of illegal drugs. He later was convicted, joining an increasing 
number of drivers getting in trouble for "driving high."

Statistics from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation show that 
in all of 2013 there were 32 drivers in fatal or injury crashes whose 
blood tests were positive for marijuana. In the first three months of 
2014, there already have been 17 such positive tests.

Blood tests showing marijuana usage typically are not performed 
unless there is an injury accident. Roberts said he often can tell by 
his own observation if a person has been smoking pot.

There's often the smell of burnt marijuana and the telltale red, 
bloodshot eyes. He also looks for small amounts of green flakes on 
the tongue from marijuana cigarettes.

"It impairs your motor function and doesn't allow you to operate a 
vehicle in a safe manner," he said.

People can be convicted of driving under the influence of illegal 
drugs, marijuana, based on the observations of the officer.

Blood tests of drivers for marijuana in Oklahoma are not fair, say 
drug attorneys and advocates who want marijuana legalized.

A positive blood test for marijuana may not always mean a person is 
high at the time of the crash, or too impaired to drive, said 
Oklahoma City drug attorney Chad Moody. For example, a person could 
smoke marijuana legally in Colorado up to 30 days before a crash in Oklahoma.

The typical high from using marijuana lasts just two to four hours, 
he said. After that, there could be no physical impairment from 
smoking marijuana, but marijuana traces can stay in a person's blood 
for up to 30 days or longer.

In Oklahoma, any detectable amount of marijuana in a person's blood 
is illegal. Moody said he is being requested more frequently by 
clients who are convicted for using marijuana up to 30 days before 
their arrest.

"It is absolutely ridiculous," Moody said. "There is no claiming that 
marijuana can impair driving 30 days later."

He said he has seen a slight increase in the number of clients he 
represents on driving under the influence of marijuana charges recently.

Norma Sapp, the director of the Oklahoma chapter of the National 
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, NORML, said the blood 
test for marijuana does not reflect a driver's performance on the roads.

"It's not fair," Sapp said. "And it's definitely not scientific to 
accuse someone of being impaired when they just have it in their blood."

She said she does not think smoking marijuana causes most people to 
drive poorly, and smokers may drive more carefully and pay more 
attention to detail, concentrating more on the immediate task, she said.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Ronnie Hampton disagrees.

Hampton said people who are high on marijuana do not drive as well as 
others. He said law officers are better these days at recognizing 
more drivers who have been using pot on Oklahoma roads and have seen 
more wrecks. Stoned drivers are poor at multitasking, and have 
trouble "walking and chewing gum at the same time," he said.

And he said that since marijuana for recreational use was legalized 
in Colorado and Washington in November 2012, more people think 
driving high on pot is not dangerous.

"I think what we're seeing are more people on the roadside who are 
obviously impaired," Hampton said.

He said drivers who have smoked marijuana have slower response times.

Hampton said troopers test drivers' coordination and vision. A driver 
may be asked, for example, to look at a trooper's finger and follow 
it back and forth.

Hampton said it is his job to crack down on drivers who have smoked 
marijuana. He said he believes stoned drivers don't drive as well as 
most others.

In December 2012, Hampton worked a fatality wreck in Marshall County 
that involved a driver who tested positive for marijuana use and lost 
control in a curve on a county road. A passenger riding in the SUV was killed.

"I've heard people say 'I've never seen anyone who has smoked 
marijuana kill anybody,' " Hampton said. "Well, we have."
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