No, but neither does the BAC or breathalyzer give a level that means the person is impaired. I shouldn’t drive at a BAC of 60 (Breathalyzer of 0.060) or so. I know this about me; that’s where I begin to be impaired. My dad (a lifelong functional alcohol abuser) can have a BAC of 200 with no functional impairment.
It’s all averages. 80 (0.08) is where, on average, risk of accident is high enough that we’ve decided to put the number there, but it really doesn’t tell us if the individual is impaired.
If lawmakers can accept that “smoked weed in the last 6 hours or so” is where the risk of accident is high enough to prosecute people for driving, then this will identify those drivers. Surely no one seriously thinks that the current system, which identifies those that smoked weed in the past *month *or so, is where increased risk for accident lies, do they? (And I’m assuming for the sake of argument that recent smoking of weed is impairing in some way. I don’t believe the evidence is very clear on that assumption.)
Again… all “drug” tests that don’t involve careful lab analysis seem to be yes/no, not quantitative. Any trace of weed, coke, MDA, heroin, whatever is prima facie evidence of lawbreaking, all that is needed to be part of a prosecution.
Quantative tests for THC levels that can be quickly administered don’t seem to exist. It’s a valid consideration against unlimited legalization, as much for protection of light-toking drivers as anything else.
I’ve really come to loathe the pro-weed crowd. As bad as rabid 2ndAmmers in their frantic and convoluted arguments.
I am and always have been for decrim and rational legalization, even as a nonsmoker. BTW.
Apparently, Washington set impairment at 5ng/ml (active), which is one fifth the resolution of the mouth swab test WhyNot linked to, so that looks to be not useful, in its current form, in the field.
In this neighborhood, there are quite enough drivers hopped up on testosterone and verizon, the sensible thing to do is cut waaay back on drivers in general.
This may sound like a silly question–especially since both of my parents smoked cigarettes for years–but, Is tobacco smoke–or marijuana smoke, for that matter-- detectable on the breath? Liquor will make one’s breath stink, I know; but I never tried to smell my parents’ breath after they had lighted up.
I’m not a smoker, and I’ve never tried to differentiate where the smell on any of my friends was coming from after they smoked. But I can tell you that I could TASTE it on the other person’s mouth when kissing, so I wouldn’t be surprised if you can smell it.
But you can taste a regular smoker when kissing regardless of how long it is since they smoked. They just taste like that all the time. That’s not the basis for a useful test to tell if they have recently been smoking.
An interesting line at the end of that article:
“researchers have also found that states that legalize medical marijuana have fewer fatal car crashes, largely because of a decline in drunk driving. In other words, people may be substituting marijuana for alcohol — and while it’s not advisable to drive under the influence of either — the net result, when it comes to traffic deaths, could be a reduction in harm because smoking pot raises the crash risk less than drinking does.”
I’d also be curious to see how many people said “I’m too high to drive” and stayed off the road as compared to “I’m too drunk to drive” and drank a few glasses of water before going home and sat around for an extra hour before going home.
It’s not exactly reassuring to think that pot - smoking while (or just before) driving could cause “only” 40 deaths as compared to drinking causing 50 deaths. Deaths is deaths.
In PA, as one of the Steelers is learning, for a DWS (driving while stoned) to stick, you need a blood draw. Smell and other observations can give the probably cause to order the draw but it is the numbers from that, and not observation that bury you.
I think it’s essential that this discussion separate illegal from legal pot issues. A faint whiff of weed, real or imagined, is probable cause if pot is illegal. The more salient discussion here would be whether it’s PC for impaired driving.
Is a DUI PC for a vehicle search in most jurisdictions?
