By Derek Fleming
SACRAMENTO (CN) – California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law a package of measures intended to aid police and prosecutors in addressing drugged driving prior to the state’s plans to make recreational marijuana legal in 2018.
The package of laws authored by Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, has garnered support from law enforcement across the state. Lackey spent 28 years working as a California Highway Patrol officer before being elected to the assembly.
Medical marijuana has been legal since 1996 in the state, but few laws have been written to give law enforcement the tools needed to charge impaired drivers, and the confusion has left many California drivers unsure of their rights. With recreational legalization on the horizon, California is attempting to pre-empt the myriad problems Colorado and Washington, which both legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, have encountered.
“Governor Brown took a critical step today to help ensure California’s roadways are safe,” Lackey said. “We need to be prepared for next year when recreational cannabis sales begin, and this will allow [the California Highway Patrol] to get started on its work now.”
The new laws passed Tuesday establish training standards for law enforcement, including how to detect marijuana impairment and how to use technology to quickly and accurately determine levels of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana that gets users high.
The law also clears up any ambiguity around transporting the drug. Pot must be carried in a sealed, unopened container or locked in the trunk, just like alcohol. The law gives police the ability to use a mouth swab to determine a suspect’s level of THC as well. This new technology, which can detect levels of six common drugs in five minutes, was showcased at a press conference in May at the State Capitol.
It can be difficult to establish levels of intoxication in those who partake of marijuana because the drug shows up in users’ blood for 30 days, though its effects generally last only a few hours. The swab test allows officers to determine intoxication by identifying a particular compound that rapidly breaks down when a user has consumed marijuana.
The technology has been used in limited tests in several counties with success. A judge in Kern County, one of the test regions, recently admitted swab evidence in a case against a driver who was ultimately convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana and methamphetamines, resulting in a fatality.
“We in law enforcement have the sworn duty to protect members of our communities and save lives,” said David Swing, first vice president for the California Police Chiefs Association, in a May 10 interview. “Just last month it was reported that for the first time in history, drivers killed in crashes are more likely to be on drugs than drunk. Unfortunately, while law enforcement has many tools to combat drunk driving, our drugged-driving tool box is far less equipped.”
The California Highway Patrol plans to have every officer trained on drugged-driving protocol by January 1. To meet that goal, the newly signed legislation will provide $3 million to train drug recognition experts.
The California Legislature introduced more than 30 bills this year to address legalized marijuana. The measure authorizing swab testing was defeated last year before being reintroduced in 2017 along with a package of bills meant to meet the requirements of Proposition 64, passed last year by voters, that decriminalizes marijuana usage.
A measure introduced by Senator Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, that would have established measurable limits and penalties is currently on hold in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Hill also introduced a measure that would make smoking marijuana while driving a misdemeanor, bumping it up from its current status as an “infraction” that can be punished by a fine, but not jail time or probation. That bill is under review in the Assembly Public Safety Committee.
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37 Comments
This is why I was against recreational legalization. Now, people will be getting DUIs left and right for a traffic infraction because they puffed on a joint.
Why not ban alcohol..?
Good! I don’t think it should have been “legalized” in the first place. Anyone that says it doesn’t alter the mind is either a liar or have never used it.
So you would support banning alcohol as well?
Exactly! ^^^^^
Add caffeine, sugar, nicotine, “medicine”, plenty of ways to alter your mind legally already. Many not as drastic or dangerous as this
What kind of pot have you smoked that made you act stupid. I vaporize MJ just about everyday & I’m never lost in my head.
you do realize that cocaine has the same effect on the brain as sugar? or that alcohol even on a low regular use will shrink the brain? take a pharmacology class in college and youll understand the basic effect of anything to the human anatomy.
Hey Stoners
It’s a money grab first, but then it’s a GUN GRAB!
You might be too high to realize that when you purchase firearms there is a question asking if you use drugs. Since you are a card carrying Weed Smoker you are automatically ineligible for gun purchases and ownership.
Same goes for Anti Depressants YOU HAVE BEEN REELED IN.
Hook, line and sinker.
I just wanna know when will this city let me grow my own weed for my personal enjoyment legally.
you can already.. just a few plants, I think up to 6
got a seeding to help me get started? lol
the city is just against manufacturing within city limits for commercial use.
My husband has aspergers, spinal stenosis, 2 bulging discs and all docotrs want him on pain meds. He has his cert and he smokes pot. Keeps his pain in check and his organs working. Unlike Percocet oxycodone, norco
He goes on a 10 mile bike ride daily. And mountain bikes on the weekend. Not a couch potato at all.
Medical use of marijuana and recreational use of marijuana are two different topics in my mind. Open container for either should be strictly enforced.
READ THE ARTICLE – Headline is misleading. At least a little common sense went into this, rather than the open smoke a dope rules that they initally had in Washington State (not sure if anything ever changed). Keep that stuff locked, in a sealed container, in your trunk, just like alcohol. It is not okay to have an open container of pot while you’re driving.
LEOs and legislators don’t get it. If voters legalized it doesn’t need to be regulated? Go after dangerous drugs that are toxic and kill the user. Cannabis is less addictive and less harmful than Pepsi.
Armando Bravo
This is why I voted against this…just one more substance that will cause someone to be killed by a drugged up driver….
I hate to burst your bubble, but drunk and drugged people who choose to drive under the influence would continue to do so whether substances are legal or not.
What gives you the right to force your ideas on others?
I am trying to find the vehicle code section that says un opened alchohol had to be in the trunk.
Is that actually the law?
To the writer– it’s Tom Lackey, not Bob Lackey. You been smoking weed or what?
Looks like they ‘corrected’ ?
Not that I ever messed up a name!?
Its ok to have pill containers on your seat that have opiods in them but not a bag o weed..
Sound like bad law to me…
40 years of policies that dont work are no reason to make more.
Scott
Anyone who smokes daily won’t pass mouth swabs! And the effect DONT last a few hours. 1 hour at best
Jonathan Leland
Ryen Martin Craig ???
Michael Bruckner we can thank Jerry brown for this one too
Makes sense to me, regulate it like alcohol. People should not be driving while high.
Cannabis doesn’t intoxicate. There is no correlation between blood levels of
THC and impairment of driving skills. Phones,
finger foods, etc. are more dangerous.
No
The Automobile Club did the study, and they are
an insurance company. Please don’t repeat the
disinformation campaigns of the past.
You can buy pot plants at all the medical marijuana places to replant at home just like tomato plants at Home Depot.
You should never smoke pot and drive. I don’t care if you think you are fine. You might well be fine for everyday driving but your reflexes are slowed down a bit and if something happens and you have to act quickly that can mean the difference between an accident or not. This could cause someone else to be injured for your selfish choice. Use LYFT or UBER in SCV.
Only costs about 10 bucks to get anywhere in SCV and you can usually get picked up in a few 5 minutes. Also you can have your pot delivered to your home. Stay home and smoke if you wish, just don’t get on the road with the rest of us.