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