{"id":7704,"date":"2017-09-08T20:57:08","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T20:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=6541"},"modified":"2017-09-08T20:57:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T20:57:08","slug":"pot-perplexes-laws-on-dui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/pot-perplexes-laws-on-dui\/","title":{"rendered":"Pot Perplexes Laws On DUI"},"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\/pot-perplexes-laws-on-dui\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Many states that are considering passing or have recently passed laws legalizing marijuana are looking to Colorado \u2014 one of the nation\u2019s first legalizers \u2014 for guidance.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things they\u2019re asking is how Colorado is managing cannabis-?impaired driving now that pot is legal, and the answer seems to be: Not very well.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado has established a legal driving limit of 5 nanograms of THC, the chemical in cannabis that is responsible for psychoactive impairment, per milliliter of blood sampled. In other words, this 5 ng\/mL level of THC is equivalent to the 0.08 percent blood-alcohol concentration driving limit.<\/p>\n<p>But research about the effects of THC on people\u2019s driving and operational abilities is without consensus. Some researchers think Colorado\u2019s limit is far too low, and some think the limit is far too high.<\/p>\n<p>And whatever they think, most experts agree that impairment by cannabis can\u2019t be tested using the same standards as impairment by alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>Research on alcohol and cannabis shows that the two substances have different effects on the brain and body.<\/p>\n<p>For example, alcohol is known as a depressant, which slows brain activity \u2014 creating slowed reaction times and slurred speech, among other effects.<\/p>\n<p>Cannabis, though, has psychoactive effects, research shows. It doesn\u2019t so much slow down brain activity as alter it.<\/p>\n<p>But it alters the brain in a way not wholly consistent with other drugs that can be binned as stimulants or hallucinogens. Cannabis defies categorization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarijuana is a weird drug. It doesn\u2019t classify like other drugs,\u201d said Andrew Nolan, a Grand Junction defense lawyer with extensive experience defending those charged with DUIs for high driving.<\/p>\n<p>In Nolan\u2019s courtroom experience, defendants whose blood tested over 5 ng\/mL THC upon being pulled over by the cops weren\u2019t necessarily found to be impaired.<\/p>\n<p>The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration\u2019s (NHTSA) fact sheet on cannabis, based on evidence from more than two dozen scientific studies of the drug, lists \u201cdisorientation, altered time and space perception, lack of concentration, impaired learning and memory, alterations in thought formation and expression, drowsiness, sedation\u201d and \u201cmood changes,\u201d among several others, as possible effects of marijuana consumption.<\/p>\n<p>But if a person is pulled over on suspicion of impaired driving, he will receive the same roadside tests whether suspected of being stoned or drunk, said Colorado State Patrol Trooper Josh Lewis. Think walking a straight line or standing on one foot.<\/p>\n<p>Another complicating difference between testing drivers for cannabis versus for alcohol is that, according to research collated in the National Institutes of Health, a person\u2019s THC level can vary greatly depending on how the cannabis was consumed \u2014 smoked or eaten, for example \u2014 and how often the person consumes it.<\/p>\n<p>One study found THC concentrations over the legal limit remained in frequent marijuana smokers\u2019 blood three times longer than in occasional smokers.<\/p>\n<p>Further, THC is absorbed differently than alcohol, moving out of the blood into fatty tissues after consumption and lingering there, so traces of THC in cannabis users can stick around for weeks and don\u2019t reliably correlate with a person\u2019s immediate state of mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is difficult to establish a relationship between a person\u2019s THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects,\u201d the NHTSA\u2019s fact sheet reads, adding that the concentration of THC found in an individual\u2019s blood after consumption is \u201cvery dependent on pattern of use as well as dose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nolan\u2019s experience with clients supports these scientific findings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople develop such remarkable tolerances to cannabis,\u201d Nolan said.<\/p>\n<p>And he finds the jurors hearing his cases tend to understand this and pay more attention to functional evidence of a defendant\u2019s driving ability, such as speeding or swerving, rather than the hard blood test numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, for defendants charged with an alcohol-related DUI, the jurors tend to pay more heed to the numbers rather than the driver\u2019s behaviors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s almost like there needs to be a series of tests or evaluating components that are unique to marijuana,\u201d said Nolan, echoing the thoughts of many drug researchers across the nation.<\/p>\n<p>Some of these researchers are working on innovative roadside impairment tests that specifically address impairments related to THC.<\/p>\n<p>A psychologist at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, for example, has developed an application called DRUID for a portable tablet computer that is supposed to more accurately determine marijuana-based impairment. The app utilizes user interaction to measure \u201cerrors in decision-making, motor tracking and balance,\u201d among other issues, according to the app designer\u2019s website.<\/p>\n<p>It might be a while before such revolutionary changes in DUI assessments as DRUID make it into patrol officers\u2019 hands, but the app is already available to the public. At least cautious drivers can test themselves before they get behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/pot-perplexes-laws-on-dui.jpg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Ron Strider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gjsentinel.com\/news\/articles\/pot-perplexes-laws-on-dui\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pot perplexes laws on DUI | GJSentinel.com<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Kelly Slivka<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gjsentinel.com\/staff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.gjsentinel.com\/staff<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Justin Sullivan<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gjsentinel.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GJSentinel.com &#8211; Grand Junction breaking news, sports, opinion, entertainment and multimedia<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many states that are considering passing or have recently passed laws legalizing marijuana are looking to Colorado \u2014 one of&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2017\/09\/pot-perplexes-laws-dui\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1597,9,1,3],"tags":[4165],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7704"}],"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=7704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7704\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}