How High Is Too High?

[bobandtorey]

More pot use means more people are getting behind the wheel after they’ve consumed marijuana.

Unlike alcohol, there’s no standard measurement to determine whether someone’s had too much weed. That’s left uncertainty for police, prosecutors and medical marijuana users.

UNDER THE INFLUENCE 

Most DUI marijuana cases begin when an officer pulls over a driver and smells burnt marijuana.

An officer might have other reason to suspect a driver is high — maybe a joint on the dashboard or a bag of weed on the seat. If they’re suspicious, they might just ask whether the driver has smoked, Charlevoix County Prosecutor Allen Telgenhof said.

If the officer has probable cause to believe the driver is high, the suspect’s blood is drawn to be tested for THC, either by consent or with a warrant.

This is where the process gets complicated; there is no objective threshold that says a specific amount of THC in blood means a person is under the influence.

“There’s not a standard blood alcohol level like you would have in a drunk driving case,” Telegenhof said. “We don’t have a standard measurement like that with marijuana.”

THE KOON DECISION It was a Grand Traverse County case that determined how marijuana driving cases are prosecuted in Michigan.

Rodney Lee Koon was charged with operating a motor vehicle with any amount of a schedule 1 controlled substance in his body. He’d been stopped for speeding and admitted he smoked marijuana five or six hours earlier.

He was a registered medical marijuana patient and his blood tested positive for THC.

Lower court judges threw out then-Prosecutor Alan Schneider’s case, finding that prosecutors must show that a person was impaired in order to win a conviction. Merely showing they consumed marijuana was not enough.

The case was overturned again by the Michigan Court of Appeals and finally the state Supreme Court flipped the case a final time, in favor of Koon.

“Now the law is that if you are a medical marijuana patient, you may operate with THC in your system, just not if you’re impaired or under the influence,” said Robert Cooney, who became prosecutor after Schneider retired.

Cooney said he lives with the decision but disagrees with it.

“You know, if it’s unsafe for me, and I don’t have a medical marijuana card, to drive with any amount of THC, why is it safe for someone who does have a card?” he said. “That’s a dichotomy in the law that cannot be explained.”

LACK OF UNDERSTANDING 

One reason there is so much confusion about what constitutes drugged driving is that there has been so little study of it.

“They haven’t just outlawed [marijuana] — the federal government has made it difficult even for research institutions to study it,” Cooney said.

An expert on drugged driving with the National Institute on Drug Abuse told the American Association for Clinical Chemistry last year that more research is needed to come up with a process to measure impairment.

Dr. Marilyn Huestis said she is working on a study to measure the effects of marijuana on drivers using the world’s most advanced driving stimulator, a device built by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The simulator had been used to study texting and cell phone distraction, but never high driving.

Cooney — who in 20 years has prosecuted three cases that involved marijuana-impaired drivers accused of causing accidents that caused death (in one case the driver was also drunk) — is certain that marijuana impairment reduces a driver’s ability to make decisions on the road.

It affects vision, motor skills, and judgement, he said.

ROADSIDE TESTS NEEDED 

Also in need of study is how a police officer can determine marijuana impairment during a traffic stop.

Cooney said officers often just use the same tests they use to look for drunk drivers.

What officers do if they suspect someone is under the influence of alcohol is well established — they can run the driver through a series of tests, have the driver blow into a breathalyzer, and then get blood tested for a more accurate blood alcohol level.

The same protocol does not exist for marijuana.

There is training available for police officers to learn more about detecting drug use, Cooney said. It’s expensive, however, and requires an officer to be away at school for three weeks. He said only a handful of officers in northern Michigan have completed the training.

A/V EVIDENCE WANTED 

Until marijuana impairment is better understood, it will be up to police officers to make a judgment call.

That means there should be audio and video recordings of traffic stops so a jury can decide whether a person seemed impaired, said defense attorney Jesse Williams, who specializes in defending people accused of marijuana crimes.

“You want the truth? Then require law enforcement to wear GoPros and keep their dash cams on and record the entire event and let a jury look at it,” Williams said.

Telgenhof said he agrees traffic stops should be recorded but he doesn’t believe it should be required. He said police departments have tight budgets and may not be able to afford to outfit and maintain recording equipment in every patrol car.

Cooney is also in favor of it but he said that the equipment has proven unreliable and often breaks down.

“I’ve been here 22 years now and I’ve seen the cameras come and go and come and go,” Cooney said.

 

http://www.npaper-wehaa.com/northernexpress/2014/10/06/#?article=2347458&z=40

[Habenero]

Cameras often break down he says. So does that mean just don't use em?

Guess what, guns often jam. Cops shouldn't use em.

[Willy]

Hell buy it with there forfiture money, they dont want to waste a dime of that nnooooo, more for the big party, or the private park for pigs on the lake.. and yes they do have them.. Or maybe its for that big tank project they got in the works, how cool would we be with our own tank, we could really kill us a bunch of hippy druggys with that !!!!

[trichcycler]

poppy seed buns come to mind

[imiubu]

"There is training available for police officers to learn more about detecting drug use, Cooney said. It’s expensive, however, and requires an officer to be away at school for three weeks. He said only a handful of officers in northern Michigan have completed the training."

 

Heaven forbid them actually wanting to learn to do their job.

 

Apparently most of them don't even know what weed smells like or looks like either.

[Habenero]

"There is training available for police officers to learn more about detecting drug use, Cooney said. It’s expensive, however, and requires an officer to be away at school for three weeks. He said only a handful of officers in northern Michigan have completed the training."

 

Heaven forbid them actually wanting to learn to do their job.

 

Apparently most of them don't even know what weed smells like or looks like either.

What? They know what it looks like gimme a break.

Looks like an okra plant duh!

[trichcycler]

they might just be a fine market for my scratch and sniff card fob !

[Habenero]

That's actually a really good idea. Scratch and sniff on one side and an image of a leaf on the other.

[Habenero]

Seriously bro that is a fantastic idea. Take it to shark tank.

[trichcycler]

I'm shy, but if you know a marketeer, I gotta my book full of must have marijuana materials  , some are complete, some need attention. some are in High Times and interwebs already.  The card project relies on legal  terpenoids/cbd's to "build" the cannabis profile. The legality of these cbd's is changing often, so I'm awaiting a rest for a finally assembly. The card is a no brainer, but acquiring legal terpenoids is another story. Making and indentifying them is very expensive. synthesizing them is easy, if yer a chem geek, I am not.    Literally cannabis can be built with selected terpenes, to an accuracy of perfection individualized by personal chemotypes. waaay over my head, but related.

 

Interesting goo;

 

marijuana sniffing dogs are trained in sensing only one terpenoid, myrcene. I inadvertently assisted in the directions (Punnets Square, related ) to selectively breeding this particular profile out of a strain, successfully.

[Habenero]

marijuana sniffing dogs are trained in sensing only one terpenoid, myrcene. I inadvertently assisted in the directions (Punnets Square, related ) to selectively breeding this particular profile out of a strain, successfully.

Haha! I love it!!!!!!!!!!

 

Gotta be a way to clone the scent of marijuana without using any plant material or synthesizing anything illegal. That'd be cool for a scratch n sniff card and even more cool to synthesize a liquid that you can walk around and spray on random car tires. That'd be a hoot. Even better would be to impregnate dryer sheets covertly with the myrcene at the factory.

[trichcycler]

this one is already accomplished, just waiting to strike in my state

 

Edited October 8, 2014 by grassmatch

[bobandtorey]

this one is already accomplished, just waiting to strike in my state

 

Lol funny stuff