Colorado marijuana DUIs drop 33 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with last year, but officials still concerned

April 18, 2017 blogger Colorado News, drunken driving, Latest News, marijuana, marijuana in Colorado, Medicial Marijuana, News, Stop Smoking Marijuana, Stop Smoking Pot, weed, withdrawal

The number of citations for driving while under the influence of marijuana dropped by 33.2 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared with the same period last year, but the number of people using marijuana and then driving continues to be a concern for Colorado officials.

“We’re still troubled by the fact that marijuana users are still telling us they routinely drive high,” Colorado Department of Transportation spokesman Sam Cole said Monday. “We’re pleased with the awareness, but we’re not so pleased with the behaviors that are actually happening.”

Cole said that in a survey conducted by CDOT, 55 percent of marijuana users said they believed it was safe to drive while under the influence. So three years ago when recreational marijuana was legalized, according to Cole, CDOT launched the “Drive High, Get a DUI” campaign to raise awareness that driving while stoned was illegal.

“There’s a lot of troubling information we’ve collected and many marijuana users indicate they drive high and they don’t think it’s a danger,” Cole said. He added that among survey respondents who said they used marijuana within the last 30 days, “Fifty percent of marijuana users say they have driven high.”

Despite CDOT’s concerns and what marijuana users might think, the Colorado State Patrol reported that from January to March of 2017, 155 people were cited for marijuana-use-only impairment while driving, compared to 232 cited from January to March of 2016. The number of citations noting combined alcohol and marijuana use also declined, with 50 in the first quarter of 2017 compared with 69 in the first three months of 2016.

“Are the citations going down? Yeah, but is the number of people using marijuana and then driving going down? I don’t know how to quantify that,” said Nate Reid , a CSP spokesman. “This is just after the officer stop. This isn’t post-conviction or after they may have been arrested.”

Recreational marijuana use might be somewhat new, but troopers have great experience detecting impaired drivers, Reid said.

“We’ve been arresting for marijuana for a long time,” he said. “There’s no sure sign somebody is impaired by alcohol or drugs. It’s the trooper’s personal contact after a stop, along with their driving behavior. Troopers have been trained in advance for detecting alcohol and marijuana and other prescription drugs.”