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n2doc

(47,953 posts)
Wed May 11, 2016, 08:35 PM May 2016

Blood THC levels after smoking pot are useless in defining “too high to drive”

Measuring ‘drunk’ is pretty easy; the more alcohol someone drinks, the more alcohol shows up in that person’s blood and the more impaired that person becomes, falling somewhere on a scale of tipsy to wasted. Measuring ‘high,’ on the other hand, is far hazier—much to the dismay of some states' law enforcement.

Blood tests that try to quantify marijuana use are in fact useless at assessing how impaired a driver is, according to a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. In other words, the study found that people with low blood amounts of THC—or delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of pot—may still act as if they’re really stoned. On the other hand, some people may have THC measurements off the charts yet still act normally.

The finding is critical because several states have already set legal limits for the amount of THC a person can have in their blood while driving. AAA concluded that such limits are “arbitrary and unsupported by science, which could result in unsafe motorists going free and others being wrongfully convicted for impaired driving.”

For the study, AAA researchers combed through arrest records for impaired driving as well as results from toxicology tests and Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) exams. This exam includes roadside sobriety tests such as walking and turning, standing on one foot, and nose touching.


more

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/05/legal-limits-for-marijuana-dui-are-arbitrary-and-unsupported-by-science/

5 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Blood THC levels after smoking pot are useless in defining “too high to drive” (Original Post) n2doc May 2016 OP
Ding a freaking ling ghostsinthemachine May 2016 #1
Reefer Madness is undetectable!!! Mnpaul May 2016 #2
If a person isn't driving irratically puffy socks May 2016 #3
There is only one true test. The Johnny Cash field sobriety cake test CentralMass May 2016 #4
Its true, impairment should be the standard. Warren DeMontague May 2016 #5
 

puffy socks

(1,473 posts)
3. If a person isn't driving irratically
Wed May 11, 2016, 09:01 PM
May 2016

why should a person be tested to discovered if they are high?

Wouldn't traffic accidents in Washington and Colorado involving marijuana have spiked dramatically by now if smoking and driving were so dangerous?
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/9/14/1421209/-Since-Colorado-legalized-marijuana-highway-fatalities-are-way-down

The fact is it's not alcohol and no matter how much someone smokes they never act as irrational as someone who can't walk or talk and is obviously out of control because they knocked down a half a bottle of whiskey.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
5. Its true, impairment should be the standard.
Thu May 12, 2016, 05:39 PM
May 2016

And frankly there are people driving around impaired by a lot of things, not the least of which is their cell phones.

It goes without saying that no one should get behind the wheel if they've been imbibing anything mind-altering. I had a friend killed by a drunk driver.

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