{"id":5068,"date":"2015-11-24T00:59:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-24T00:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=3971"},"modified":"2015-11-24T00:59:26","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T00:59:26","slug":"arizona-court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/arizona-court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona: Court Ruling Gives Medical Marijuana Card Holders Defense In DUI Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/arizona-court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>An Arizona Supreme Court ruling gives medical marijuana card holders a new defense in DUI cases, according to DUI attorney James Nesci.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the defense is kind of screwy because you have to prove that you were not impaired,\u201d Nesci said. \u201cHow do you prove you&#8217;re not impaired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crime labs test for a chemical called THC, which can stay in a person\u2019s blood long after they use marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no studies that show how much THC impairs a person. That&#8217;s the first thing,\u201d Nesci said. \u201cSecond thing we also know is this, tolerance plays a big deal in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nesci believes the new ruling may be unconstitutional, but it could be the law for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat stands due process on its head,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it&#8217;s the government that has to prove that you are impaired. You never have to prove your innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A person in Arizona can get a DUI if they have any illegal drug in their system, so the ruling does not apply to recreational marijuana users.<\/p>\n<p>Labs can also test for a substance that indicates marijuana use called carboxy THC. Carboxy THC stays in the system longer than THC, but it does not cause impairment. Recently, carboxy THC was ruled out as evidence of impairment in Arizona, according to Nesci.<\/p>\n<p>Consequences for driving under the influence of drugs are more severe than the most extreme alcohol DUI, according to Nesci.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/arizona-court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00c2\u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/story\/30574542\/court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases\" target=\"_blank\">Court Ruling Gives Medical Marijuana Card Holders Defense In DUI Cases<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Sam Salzwedel<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/category\/292652\/contact-us\" target=\"_blank\">Contact Page<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">KVOA News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An Arizona Supreme Court ruling gives medical marijuana card holders a new defense in DUI cases, according to DUI attorney James Nesci.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the defense is kind of screwy because you have to prove that you were not impaired,\u201d Nesci said. \u201cHow do you prove you&#8217;re not impaired?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Crime labs test for a chemical called THC, which can stay in a person\u2019s blood long after they use marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are no studies that show how much THC impairs a person. That&#8217;s the first thing,\u201d Nesci said. \u201cSecond thing we also know is this, tolerance plays a big deal in that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nesci believes the new ruling may be unconstitutional, but it could be the law for years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat stands due process on its head,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause it&#8217;s the government that has to prove that you are impaired. You never have to prove your innocence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A person in Arizona can get a DUI if they have any illegal drug in their system, so the ruling does not apply to recreational marijuana users.<\/p>\n<p>Labs can also test for a substance that indicates marijuana use called carboxy THC. Carboxy THC stays in the system longer than THC, but it does not cause impairment. Recently, carboxy THC was ruled out as evidence of impairment in Arizona, according to Nesci.<\/p>\n<p>Consequences for driving under the influence of drugs are more severe than the most extreme alcohol DUI, according to Nesci.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/arizona-court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00c2\u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/story\/30574542\/court-ruling-gives-medical-marijuana-card-holders-defense-in-dui-cases\" target=\"_blank\">Court Ruling Gives Medical Marijuana Card Holders Defense In DUI Cases<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Sam Salzwedel<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/category\/292652\/contact-us\" target=\"_blank\">Contact Page<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None Found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kvoa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">KVOA News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1614,9,1,3],"tags":[4182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5068\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}