…possibly, in our quest to find a reliable roadside breath test for cannabis-related DUI. Link to a detailed analysis below:
First, some facts about the current status of cannabis-impaired driving:
- In one very large study, 85% of pot users acknowledged driving within 8 hours of use. Half admitted to driving within one hour of using. THC would still be detectable within both those timeframes, of course.
- Currently, twelve states have adopted strict zero-tolerance laws (any detectable amount of THC/metabolites) as criteria for DUI arrest. The states are Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin. I imagine the remaining states require a level of impairment as grounds for arrest.
- In practice, that means that nearly every regular cannabis user who operates a vehicle in one of those 12 states has already broken that law, probably repeatedly, and is technically vulnerable to arrest.
- By the way, an estimated three of four pot-positive DUI offenders were also positive for alcohol or other drugs when arrested. Pot is clearly a drug people like to mix and match.
Taken together, the above makes it clear that law enforcement would benefit from widespread availability of a “…rapid, reliable and low-cost roadside tool” for determining the presence of cannabis. If such exists.
We’re hoping the latest candidate will be “the one.”
As the article describes, the method used to detect cannabis involves the use of a ”… “Fast Blue” dye and gelatin system capable of detecting “delta-9 THC, CBD and CBN “across multiple matrix systems.”
Don’t ask me to explain that. It’s sufficient to know that it was sensitive enough to detect 10-100 nanograms of cannabinoids, and capable of telling the difference between the three target ingredients, using something called “color-space modeling.”
So that’s the good news. Now all that’s left is to make and market (for commercial use) a test that qualifies as “rapid, reliable and low cost”.
That could take a while.
