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Driver Beware: Sober Or Stoned Makes Little Difference In The Eyes Of The Law

by Paul Armentano

If you smoke cannabis, driving while sober could land you in the slammer. 

In many states cops and prosecutors may now target motorists who are not intoxicated under so-called 'zero tolerance' drugged driving laws.  These laws, which have been enacted in more than a dozen states, make it a criminal offense for anyone to operate a motor vehicle if trace levels of illicit drugs or drug metabolites (non-psychoactive compounds produced from the chemical changes of a drug in the body) are present in their blood, saliva, or urine -- even in cases where the driver is completely sober!

A case in point: Jane Doe smokes marijuana at party.  The following day Jane is involved in a fender-bender and is requested to submit to a urine test.  She tests positive for the cannabis metabolite and is arrested for "driving under the influence of drugs," despite the fact that any impairment she experienced from the previous night's pot use had worn off hours earlier.

That's because 'zero tolerance' drugged driving laws have little to do with promoting public safety or identifying motorists who drive while under the influence.  Rather, they create a new, driving-related offense that is divorced from impairment -- improperly defining many sober drivers as 'intoxicated' solely because they consumed a controlled substance, particularly cannabis, at some previous, unspecified point in time.

For the occasional marijuana smoker or medi-pot patient, these laws are particularly worrisome. THC, marijuana's main psychoactive constituent, may be detected at low levels in the blood of heavy cannabis users for 1-2 days after past use.  Marijuana's primary metabolite THC-COOH, the most common indicator of marijuana use in workplace drug tests, is detectable in urine for days and sometimes weeks after past use.  Consequently, pot smokers could conceivably be charged with 'drugged driving' for up to a month following their last toke.

To date, thirteen states have enacted versions 'zero tolerance' or per se drugged driving laws regarding controlled substances: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, and Wisconsin, and Virginia.  (Wisely, Minnesota and Virginia exclude cannabis and its metabolites from the list of controlled substances covered under the statute, while Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin exclude marijuana metabolites.)  In Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, and Utah, those convicted under the law face mandatory imprisonment, even for a first offense. 

In response to the growing prevalence of these ominous laws, NORML recently released the following report: "You Are Going Directly to Jail -- DUID Legislation: What It Means, Who's Behind It, and Strategies to Prevent It."  This report, now available online, is a detailed examination of statewide drugged driving laws and the quantitative role of marijuana consumption in on-road traffic accidents.  Among its conclusions: "It is apparent that cannabis' adverse on-road impact is hardly so great as to warrant the passage and enforcement of 'zero tolerance' drugged driving legislation, which would unavoidably classify many sober cannabis users as 'impaired' and threaten them with criminal prosecution."

We all support the goal of keeping impaired drivers off the road, regardless of whether the driver is impaired from alcohol, cannabis, or other drugs.  However, these new 'zero tolerance' drugged driving laws are neither a safe nor sensible way to identify impaired drivers.  They are a cynical attempt to misuse the traffic safety laws in order to identify and prosecute marijuana smokers per se, and they should be opposed by citizens and lawmakers alike.

To read NORML's report online, please visit: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6492

 Paul Armentano is the senior policy analyst for NORML and the NORML Foundation in Washington, DC.

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