As rates of stoned drivers increase, law enforcement face challenges

[TexasTowelie]

According to a AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety survey published in 2019, nearly 70% of Americans think it’s unlikely a driver will get caught by police for driving while high on marijuana.

Additionally, 14.8 million drivers report getting behind the wheel within one hour after using marijuana in the 30 days before they took the survey.

Since Washington state passed Initiative 502 to legalize recreational marijuana, rates of drivers under the influence of cannabis and involved in fatal collisions have risen at an alarming rate.

According to another AAA Foundation survey, the estimated percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes who were THC-positive in Washington state rose to 21.4 percent by 2017.

Read more: https://www.seattleweekly.com/news/as-rates-of-stoned-drivers-increase-law-enforcement-face-challenges/

[multigraincracker]

1. I wonder if alcohol deaths dropped at the same time?

[Midnight Writer]

19. I would be interested in seeing these numbers in context with total fatalities and other categories.

Obviously driving under any kind of intoxicating influence is reckless and stupid.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Writers and editors? Do they read what they write, these days?

14.8 million drivers did NOT take the survey, the way the second sentence states.

That figure is derived by calculation from the survey. The survey probably only had a few thousand drivers at most.

Do these editors and writers even think about what is written?

[LittleGirl]

3. Marijuana shows up in your blood for 30 days

This report is false.

[elias7]

12. Exactly, that's the stupid thing about marijuana testing, they could decrease the sensitivity.

Just because marijuana can be detected, does it mean someone is high on it. The test should be modified so that a certain threshold is met. There should be a definable level below which someone is no longer high, and the test sensitivity should be decreased so that it is only be able to detect numbers higher than that.

[Blues Heron]

4. Being high is nothing like being drunk

it's not even in the same ballpark.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

5. Washington needs to talk to Alabama and Michigan.

From the article in the OP:
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This is where regulating and enforcing marijuana-related DUIs can become a challenge for law enforcement — because there is currently no such thing as a “THC breathalyzer.”

Moberg said a handheld device to quantify THC levels in a driver’s blood by collecting their exhale would be a “game changer” for law enforcement and the courts.

The only scientifically concrete way of making that kind of measurement currently is through a blood draw of a suspected high driver, and if a suspect refuses to consent to the blood test, a warrant is required.
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And here's a different article, contradicting the supposed technology deficit:

https://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/drugged-driving-overview.aspx
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Currently, the most common methods to detect marijuana are through blood, urine or saliva. However, some states have launched oral fluid testing pilot programs. Alabama, for example, initially conducted a pilot program and later transitioned to a permanent oral fluid toxicology program using oral fluid testing devices in both screening and evidentiary capacity. Michigan (Public Act 242 and 243 of 2016) gave authority to state police to develop an oral fluid pilot program. The initial pilot was conducted in five counties and used drug recognition experts to administer the oral fluid test. Unlike previous programs (like the three-year pilot program in Colorado that was started in March of 2015), this program was not voluntary as drivers were not given the option of opting out from providing a sample. Refusal to submit to an oral fluid test was considered a civil infraction. The program was extended for one year until Sept. 30, 2020, and is now conducted statewide.
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Not to mention that employees were randomly drug-tested every three months at my previous job, always with mouth swabs after the initial urine screening to even get hired.

[Roy Rolling]

6. IMPAIRMENT!

It isn’t how much is in the blood, it’s how much a driver is impaired. I’ll bet 99% of stoned drivers can pass a field sobriety test.

Law enforcement needs to measure impairment, not how much is consumed.

[OldBaldy1701E]

9. And that is the problem

Not to mention the number one way they can seize everything you ever owned. Their 'detector' can only measure if it is in your system, not if you are impaired. As stated before, cannabis can stay in your system for 30 days or more. The effect last about 4-6 hours. So, you smoke a joint with some friends two weeks ago, you get stopped for something simple and the cop decides to check you for 'impairment'. You go down hard. You lose your job. You may have never even thought about driving while high. But, that is because you never have been high while driving. Doesn't matter. This is one of the great reasons why law enforcement does not want legalization. They will lose their massive cash cow... one that requires little or no real evidence thanks to a test that does not detect what law enforcement is trying to detect. And we won't go into the racial profiling that accompanies this 'enforcement'.

[2naSalit]

10. +++++++++++++++++++++++++!!

[OldBaldy1701E]

14. I love your nick!

Usually with lettuce and tomato on wheat bread!

[2naSalit]

15. I like it...

with pickles only.

It's the name of a long gone but beloved cat.

[OldBaldy1701E]

17. I bet he was very special with such a great name. (n/t)

[2naSalit]

18. It was a she...

And yes, she was an amazing animal and I still grieve over her untimely loss. She was more like a dog dressed in kitty clothes and people who hate cats liked her. Totally awesome being she was.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Article is deceptive. "THC-positive" does not equal "stoned" the way alcohol-positive does

THC embeds in body fat and comes back out again over a 30 day period and does not make the user stoned while coming out, due to habituation.

Scare statistics like the article do not tell the whole story. It is true that it is not wise to drive within an hour or even three after getting high, even though a stoned driver is frequently much better than a drunk driver. Neither is wise. Canadian guidelines say wait five hours.

In a country where the government sells cannabis to citizens, I have not heard of any wave of fatalities or injuries or accidents. The media in Canada have seen no need to frighten the public with THC statistics in this way.

[OldBaldy1701E]

8. The media in Canada is not *quite* as greed driven as the media in the US. (n/t)

[2naSalit]

16. +1

[jimmil]

11. Just my thoughts.....

This is from an old guy so beat me down gently... I am not in favor of recreational pot for the simple reason that there is no way to test for under the influence that I am aware of. I am not in favor of throwing people who are high in jail but let's get real, if you have smoked you are high and you can't drive nearly as well as you can normally. That is a fact I personally verified several decades ago when I was young and stupid. I'm older now. I can also verify the pot we smoked back in the 60s and 70s wasn't nearly as strong as it is now. I'm sure this is the cause of the rise in bad music today and the need for self driving cars.

Regardless, I am all for recreational marijuana if people would not get behind the wheel of a car or hop on a motorcycle and blast around the streets. I know this isn't going to happen as people just don't have enough couches to crash on. The only alternative I can see is to confiscate the weed when caught behind the wheel and toss people in the drunk tank to sleep it off.

[LittleGirl]

13. You are entitled to your opinion

But what you miss about recreational sales is that we sell alcohol without a license (medical card), why not weed?

For me, I don’t need a doctor to tell me that using marijuana will help control my pain. I’ve lived it. I CANNOT take opioids for pain. They make me throw up so after surgery, I need marijuana. I cannot drink alcohol to numb the pain because I throw up after drinking so I use marijuana.

Being able to purchase marijuana legally will keep me pain free and hopefully out of jail. I’m just a menopausal woman that needs her weed. I’m responsible. I don’t smoke and drive. I’m an adult. We can be responsible but don’t punish everyone for the few assholes out there.

Legalize it.

[IbogaProject]

20. It takes a lot to be impaired from it

It takes a lot to be impaired from it. It actually helps with focus and through studies, any dose response for a certain dose to actually impair most drivers hasn't ever been found. Most drivers drive safer when under the influence. Compared to just drinking, where over 63% won;t know when they cross the line to impairment, in the same study those who also combine it with some smoke, even a lot of smoke, can asses the crossing to impairment over 72% can. Unless they can come up with an actual test for recent use, better to not bother or use objective measures of impairment like they used to do with alcohol. There hasn't been any increase in impaired accidents in the legal states, I believe in many the accident rate went down, especially w alcohol mostly due to more drinkers making the right choice on whether to drive.