Pubdate: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 Source: Tulsa World (OK) Copyright: 2014 World Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.tulsaworld.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/463 Author: Julie DelCour Page: G1 TESTING FOR POT The Next Great Roadside Attraction THE AMERICAN VOICES website recently requested reader comment about a portable Breathalyzer test that soon will be available to help police identify drivers impaired by marijuana. Here's how self-described scarf knitter Angela Dixon responded: "Can't people just tell the truth when they're high? Why do we need all these fancy gadgets?" And, this from Paul Desroches, a products tester: "Wouldn't it be easier just to pull over everyone who is actually driving the speed limit?" OK, Dixon and Desroches are satirical send-ups created by The Onion, a parody publication. The American Voices story, however, is very real and so too are the perils of driving under the influence. Roadside Breathalyzer tests for alcohol levels have been around for decades but that's not so for marijuana or most other controlled substances. Usually, a blood or urine test is required within 24 hours after a traffic stop if a driver is suspected of driving under the influence of drugs. Use of marijuana is illegal in Oklahoma and so is driving under the influence of drugs, including Schedule 1 drugs like marijuana. That is not the case in Washington, which allows limited recreational pot use. Washington State University researchers are in latestage development of a hand-held marijuana detection device that could become available to law enforcement next year. That's not the only marijuana Breathalyzer being developed. Soon the market may be crowded with such devices, a logical response to concern over impaired driving in certain states that have liberalized marijuana use. Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, allow limited recreational use; 16 states have decriminalized marijuana and six more states have legalized medical marijuana. Cannabis detection devices also are about making a buck. One Swedish company has designed a device that can detect 12 controlled substances, including cocaine, heroin, morphine, methamphetamine and marijuana, according to a 2013 study published in the Journal of Breath Research (Yes, there is such a publication). These new, portable marijuana Breathalyzers devices would measure the concentration of THC - the signature chemical in marijuana - in a driver's breath sample. While not 100 percent accurate, the reading would be reliable enough to inform police that there's sufficient THC present to make an arrest. (Oklahoma has a zero-tolerance level). The roadside test would be followed with a more reliable blood test or urine test. In 2013, the first full year after marijuana was legalized for recreational use in Washington, 1,362 drivers there tested positive for marijuana (over the limit allowed). That was a 25 percent increase from 2012. The uptick, however, did not generate higher accident rates or intoxicated driving arrests, according to state highway patrol statistics. State law says any amount of the key ingredient in marijuana found in the blood of a driver is grounds for a DUI charge. Drugs other than alcohol are involved in about 18 percent of fatal car crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Drunken driving accounts for about a third of traffic-related deaths. Annually, about 1.4 million drivers are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol --19,000 of them in Oklahoma. "We see the legalization of marijuana (in Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Alaska) as a wake-up call for all of us in highway safety" Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, recently told the Associated Press. "We don't know enough about the scope of marijuana-impaired driving to call it a big or small problem. But anytime a driver has his ability impaired, it is a problem." In 2013, Gov. Mary Fallin approved a revision to the statute dealing with the definition of "under the influence." The new wording says that any amount of a Schedule 1 drug like marijuana found in a driver's system could lead to arrest. The wording includes metabolites, which are part of the breakdown of various substances. With alcohol, there is a set number of .08 BAC to determine DUI. With the revision, there is no specific number for marijuana. If law enforcement here does eventually use the handheld marijuana detection devices there undoubtedly will be legal challenges to its reliability and lots of other questions. What is not in question is that for the dead and injured it doesn't matter what the impaired driver who hit them ingested before a crash - -- the damage is the same. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom