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Police Say Officer Had More Pot In System Than Allowed
Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jul 2008
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)
Copyright: 2008 Las Vegas Review-Journal
Contact: http://www.reviewjournal.com/about/print/press/letterstoeditor.html
Website: http://www.reviewjournal.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/233
Author: Antonio Planas
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
POLICE SAY OFFICER HAD MORE POT IN SYSTEM THAN ALLOWED
An off-duty Nevada Highway Patrol sergeant who last month triggered a
three-car accident that left one person dead had more marijuana in his
system than state law permits while driving, according to a police
report.
Nevada law does make allowances for drivers who test positive for
trace amounts of marijuana that could be ingested secondhand.
Sgt. Edward Lattin, a 22-year NHP veteran who supervises a team that
investigates fatal crashes, voluntarily submitted to a blood test that
determined he had exceeded those legal limits, a Las Vegas police
official said.
Lattin, 46, was arrested Tuesday on one felony count of drug-related
driving under the influence resulting in death. He remained in the
Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday night for his role in the
June 11 accident that claimed the life of 49-year-old Ying Warren near
Rainbow Boulevard and Hacienda Avenue.
Lattin's arrest caused some experts familiar with Nevada's law to
argue that although he had marijuana in his system, it's difficult to
determine if the drug impaired his driving. Marijuana can stay in a
person's blood for more than a month after ingested.
Lattin's crash stirred echoes of Jessica Williams' March 2000
crash.
Williams mowed over six teenagers collecting trash in the median of
Interstate 15. The six victims died.
Testimony at the trial showed Williams and a friend used the drug
Ecstasy about 10 hours before the crash. She and the friend smoked
marijuana about two hours before the accident.
Williams was convicted of driving with prohibited substances in her
blood, although a jury found she was not impaired during the time of
the crash. She is serving a prison sentence of 18 to 48 years. The
Nevada Supreme Court upheld her conviction in 2002.
According to the police report, Lattin had 5.6 nanograms per
milliliter of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, in his system before it
was metabolized, and 26 nanograms per milliliter of THC in his blood
after it was metabolized. THC is the active substance in marijuana.
State law allows drivers to have in their bodies 2 nanograms per
milliliter of THC before it is metabolized and 5 nanograms per
milliliter of THC after it is metabolized.
The law allows for trace levels of marijuana to be in a person's
system while driving because of issues with secondhand exposure,
experts said.
Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief for the Special Operations
Division Joe Lombardo said there was no indication that Lattin had
smoked marijuana before the accident.
He said officers didn't find any marijuana in Lattin's truck and
didn't smell marijuana in the air.
Lattin was arrested Tuesday because police were following the letter
of the law.
"All we can say is that he was under the influence, but it doesn't
mean he was impaired," Lombardo said.
Lattin volunteered to take an alcohol breath test and a blood test,
Lombardo said, adding there was no proof that Lattin had experienced a
diabetic episode as he claimed.
Lattin was not arrested at the site of the crash.
Lombardo said he didn't know if the amount of marijuana found in
Lattin's blood was considered large but said that in his experience,
"that level wouldn't indicate a secondhand introduction to the body."
Lattin remains on paid administrative leave pending an internal
investigation, said Daniel Burns, a spokesman with the Nevada
Department of Public Safety. Burns said the highway patrol does not
give random drug tests to its officers.
Robert Langford, a local defense attorney who has represented clients
charged with marijuana offenses, questioned why someone with the
highway patrol would volunteer to take a blood test if he had recently
ingested pot.
"I tell my clients, if you smoked marijuana within the last 30 days,
someone is going to know," Langford said. "Obviously, we know he
smoked marijuana in the last 30 days."
Neal Levine, a campaign manager for a 2006 initiative to legalize and
regulate marijuana in Nevada, said the state law on driving while
having marijuana in the system is absurd.
Levine increased Langford's estimate and said marijuana can stay in a
person's body for up to 45 days.
"The current Nevada law sends people to prison for a crime they didn't
actually commit, which is vehicular homicide," Levine said.
He said the law theoretically dictates that marijuana smokers are
intoxicated for 45 days, or the amount of time it takes for the drug
to leave the body. That is not a fair standard, Levine said.
Levine, Langford and Lombardo refused to speculate on when Lattin
might have used the drug.
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