Driving and MMJ laws - Explaining the science

Does THC in your system equal impairment? This is the important and debated question. We will explain what we know and the science behind it in an effort to educate you about the laws and how to stay safe.

Most importantly, do not drive under the influence of Medical Marijuana or Adult-use Cannabis. Driving impaired is unacceptable, but what do the driving laws say and how are they created? What is the scientific basis behind the legal limit?

Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Washington, D.C., have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, and 20 states have legalized it for therapeutic and medicinal use. Montana and Washington have implemented a per se limit for marijuana at 5 ng/mL; Nevada and Ohio have set a limit at 2 ng/mL; and Pennsylvania’s is set at 1 ng/mL. Twelve states have strict per se laws that forbid the presence of any levels of marijuana. In Colorado, a blood concentration of 5 ng/mL or more gives rise to permissible inference that a person was driving under the influence of the drug.

You can read the full laws for our home state of Washington HERE

The topic of driving and Cannabis has been thrust into the spotlight by a recent report issued by AAA. The focus was on Washington state, where the number of fatal road crashes involving Cannabis have doubled.

• The percentage of drivers involved in fatal crashes who recently used marijuana more than doubled from eight to 17 percent between 2013 and 2014.

• One in six drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2014 had recently used marijuana, which is the most recent data available.

Before we unleash the outrage, lets understand the numbers. In states with legal Cannabis, there is now more focus on testing and collecting these statistics, for a variety of reasons. This will likely account for an increase to those numbers, but the flaw in the data, is by using the presence of THC in the blood system. Since Cannabis is a legal substance in Washington, the number of people who tried Cannabis in the last month is likely higher than when the substance was illegal. This also contributes to an uptick in their numbers.

The accepted science agrees that THC can be present in your blood for 30-60 days after you last consume. If a person consumed Medical Marijuana two weeks ago, they are no longer impaired. However, they could still fail a blood test. This is a major concern for Medical Marijuana patients who might consume Cannabis on a daily basis. The levels of THC in their system would likely be above the legal DUI limits, regardless of if they had smoked in the last eight hours or so.

New research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety also shows that legal limits for Marijuana and driving are arbitrary and unsupported by science, which could result in unsafe motorists going free and others being wrongfully convicted for impaired driving.

“There is understandably a strong desire by both lawmakers and the public to create legal limits for Marijuana impairment, in the same manner as we do with alcohol,” said Marshall Doney, AAA’s President and CEO. “In the case of Marijuana, this approach is flawed and not supported by scientific research. It’s simply not possible today to determine whether a driver is impaired based solely on the amount of the drug in their body.”

Researchers examined the lab results of drivers arrested for impaired driving, and the results suggest that legal limits for Marijuana and driving are problematic because:

• There is no science showing that drivers reliably become impaired at a specific level of marijuana in the blood. Depending on the individual, drivers with relatively high levels of marijuana in their system might not be impaired, while others with low levels may be unsafe behind the wheel. This finding is very different from alcohol, where it is clear that crash risk increases significantly at higher BAC levels.

• High THC levels may drop below legal thresholds before a test is administered to a suspected impaired driver. The average time to collect blood from a suspected driver is often more than two hours because taking a blood sample typically requires a warrant and transport to a facility. Active THC blood levels may decline significantly and could drop below legal limits during that time.

• Marijuana can affect people differently, making it challenging to develop consistent and fair guidelines. For example, frequent users of marijuana can exhibit persistent levels of the drug long after use, while drug levels can decline more rapidly among occasional users.

As you can see there are obvious problems with the current DUI laws concerning Marijuana. There is no scientific foundation to them. We do know, that driving impaired is never a good thing. In the age of UBER and rideshare programs, getting home safely should never be a concern. AAA continues to work toward a solution and has offered a few solid suggestions thus far. Their involvement doesn't end with this report, they are currently working on a handful of other studies looking at the impact of legal Cannabis and road safety. You can read their full report HERE

This article is based off of two new studies by the AAA Foundation into marijuana and driving:

• Prevalence of Marijuana Involvement in Fatal Crashes: Washington, 2010-2014

• An Evaluation of Data from Drivers Arrested for Driving Under the Influence in Relation to Per se Limits for Cannabis

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