Facts About Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana

Marijuana affects the body much differently than alcohol. Forensic scientists have been studying alcohol for nearly 100 years; however, marijuana studies are still in their infancy stages comparatively speaking, of course. Additionally, alcohol bonds to water, and travels throughout the bloodstream to wherever water is in the body; however, marijuana, specifically, THC and the "active" molecules in marijuana, are fat soluble, and are generally activated by heat, thereby complicating formulating a “per se” or “legal limit” for marijuana as not everyone responds to the drug the same way.

Additionally, the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which were designed to measure whether a person was at or above 0.08%, cannot accurately measure impairment for Driving Under the Influence of Marijuana as the tests were not really designed or evaluated to measure for drug impairment. The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests were only designed and scientifically evaluated to "indirectly" measure whether a person was impaired by alcohol, not drugs. For this reason, the government's attempts to correlate marijuana impairment based on Standardized Field Sobriety Testing is misplaced.

Another issue with marijuana is that it remains in one’s bloodstream for quite some time – sometimes up to 30-to-45 days, and can be detected by hair follicle testing in addition to blood testing. Chronic marijuana users, who usually have THC in their bodies for longer periods of time, can still have marijuana in their bloodstream for periods of time closer to the 45-day period. That it remains in one’s system for so long actually prejudices the person who is being charged with driving under the influence of marijuana because the mere presence of the drug could lead the District Attorneys who are responsible for prosecuting DUI Marijuana cases in Orange County to erroneously believe the person is under the influence of marijuana when they were not actually impaired by the substance. For this reason, if you are charged with DUI Marijuana, you need an experienced DUI Drugs Defense Attorney to represent you against the charge.

Website: NHTSA DRUGS AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE FACT SHEETS - MARIJUANA

I recently blogged about the introduction of DUI Breath Testing Devices. Yes, there really is such a thing. It is based on similar technology that is used to test for the amount of alcohol in a test subject’s blood using a breath-alcohol testing device; however, it will obviously test for marijuana as opposed to alcohol.

The devices were first introduced in the State of Colorado and the State of Washington as those were the two (2) states that first legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. We can expect in increase in the advancement of these types of breath testing devices now that numerous other states have also legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.

Click the link to learn more about DUI Breath Testing Devices