Study Indicates that Driving While Impaired Cannot be Accurately Tested

There are multiple states that allow marijuana in some way, shape, or form. According to a study, six of those states that allow cannabis have a legal test to determine whether or not someone has been driving while under the influence of marijuana, but have no efficiency.

The study was done by AAA’s safety foundation, the country’s largest automobile club. The club adds that it is impossible to take an accurate blood test to detect THC, the psychoactive component in marijuana, and determine if somebody is high. However, the laws in five out of the six States consider a set limit as they would a blood-alcohol limit.

Therefore, drivers who are actually impaired might be going off with no repercussions while drivers that are not are being put behind bars for no reason, the club adds. One possible solution would be to implement laws that are dependent upon specially trained police officers to choose if a driver is high, supported by a test for the presence of THC. The tests would look for a numerous amount of indicators of impairment, including pupil dilation, tongue color, and even behavior.

This AAA adds that the laws that are currently set in Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington should be dismantled, especially since more cannabis states are looking to follow their lead. There are at least three, or at max eleven, states that will be voting this November on whether or not they would like legalize cannabis for recreation use, medical use, or both. There are many legislatures also considering these.

“There is understandably a strong desire by both lawmakers and the public to create legal limits for marijuana impairment in the same manner we do alcohol,” Marshall Doney, AAA’s president and CEO, said. “In the case of marijuana, this approach is flawed and not supported by scientific research.”