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Cannabis and Driving Under the Influence - Is there a sobriety test? - YouTube
Channel: WKAR
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even though cannabis is illegal under
[3]
federal law classified in the same
[5]
category as heroin and ecstasy several
[8]
states including michigan have legalized
[10]
cannabis for medical and recreational
[12]
use
[13]
but it remains illegal everywhere to
[16]
drive while under the influence of
[17]
cannabis even though there's no accurate
[19]
roadside test for impairment
[23]
people need to be aware that despite the
[25]
amount of time that has passed between
[28]
when they ingested and when they get
[30]
pulled over by a police officer and
[32]
despite
[33]
the recreational use of marijuana having
[36]
been legalized in michigan you could
[38]
still get convicted even if you are not
[41]
currently under the influence
[44]
some states have already established a
[46]
legal threshold of five nanograms of thc
[50]
per milliliter of blood colorado was the
[53]
first state to legalize marijuana
[55]
recreationally so really we were the
[58]
first state legislature to really
[59]
grapple with this issue of setting a
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limit when it comes to what limit does
[64]
impair your ability to derive under the
[66]
influence of cannabis michigan state
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representative pamela hornberger
[70]
introduced a bill that would set a legal
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limit at five nanograms calling for
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stronger prosecution of drivers with thc
[77]
in their blood requests for comment from
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hornberger's office went unreturned
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states are looking to us to see what
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colorado did how did colorado handle
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this and that's why we're seeing other
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states also adopt this five nanogram
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limit for for better or for worse
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the science behind the five nanogram
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limit of thc
[98]
isn't there when i say for better that
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we're seeing a higher percent of
[101]
convictions above the five nanograms so
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obviously juries find that five nanogram
[106]
limit really useful for worse we don't
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have some hard science that really links
[110]
a nanogram limit to impairment the
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critical factor is whether
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the individual is actually impaired and
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not what their blood level of delta 9
[121]
thc is because there is very poor
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correlation between the blood levels and
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impairment ultimately when it comes down
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to the numbers the numbers are
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one part of it so when we start talking
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about things like nanograms or 0.08 for
[137]
alcohol or really any other substance
[139]
that we're checking for
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that becomes one more clue it becomes
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one more piece of evidence
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i absolutely think that this five
[149]
nanogram threshold that's making its way
[152]
through michigan's legislature could
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feed into the disparate treatment of
[157]
minorities depending on the
[159]
neighborhoods that these police officers
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are working in once they conduct that
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test they are the gatekeepers to the
[165]
criminal justice system and ultimately
[167]
determine who enters
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it remains unclear how legalizing
[172]
recreational cannabis affects car crash
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rates a 2021 study found a correlation
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between legalization and a spike in car
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crash rates and fatalities in five
[182]
states other research shows recreational
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legalization alone have little effect on
[188]
traffic fatalities
[189]
presently there isn't enough data to
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know for sure what role legalization
[194]
plays in traffic accidents a study from
[196]
the national highway traffic safety
[198]
administration looked at the impact of
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drug and alcohol impairment on 3 000 car
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crashes by one measure drivers with thc
[206]
in their systems were 25 percent more
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likely to be involved in an accident but
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this estimate excluded known risk
[214]
factors like age gender and alcohol
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consumption
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so how does thc impact your driving
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thc is the main psychoactive part of
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cannabis and this is the chemical in the
[229]
substance that affects the brain
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it changes our cognitive functioning it
[235]
makes us think a little slower react a
[237]
little
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the slower of cannabis consumption can
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vary and impairment is hard to measure
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but some research suggests the impact of
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cannabis can last anywhere from two to
[249]
ten hours when a person smokes cannabis
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it enters your system pretty quickly it
[254]
goes from the vapor that's inhaled into
[257]
the lungs into the bloodstream causing
[259]
high within a few minutes when someone
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takes an edible it's going to your
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stomach first the gastrointestinal
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system it has to be broken down and then
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enter the bloodstream and so the high
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then comes maybe an hour or two later so
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there's a difference in the type of
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cannabis you take and how quickly it
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might cause impairment
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when we're thinking about comparing
[279]
cannabis impairment with alcohol
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impairment or how do these substances
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affect the body especially with driving
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the drunk person the person who's
[286]
consumed a lot of alcohol they're
[288]
weaving lanes they're running all over
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the median they're hitting guardrails
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and they're blowing through red lights
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cannabis impaired drivers are often
[296]
aware they're impaired which is not seen
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with most alcohol impaired drivers if
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anything they tend to drive slower
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but they they will weave
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their time estimation
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is impaired if you think about when
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we're driving we need to be able to
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respond quickly be coordinated make
[314]
quick decisions when unexpected events
[316]
happen thc can kind of slow that down
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make us a little more inefficient
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so how is cannabis processed in the body
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in comparison with alcohol
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cannabis is fat soluble alcohol is water
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soluble once alcohol is absorbed because
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it's water-soluble it distributes evenly
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throughout our body and our bodies are
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90 water so that the amount of alcohol
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in your blood in your breath which is
[343]
moist and in your brain are all pretty
[346]
much equivalent to each other that
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concentration of alcohol in your body
[350]
equates very readily to behavioral
[352]
impairment
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the situation with cannabis is very
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different thc is fat soluble and it
[359]
distributes around the body and is
[361]
rapidly sucked into parts of the body
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that have higher fat content and then
[366]
once it's in your blood it hangs around
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in your body for up to a couple of weeks
[371]
so the amount in your brain and in your
[372]
blood are not equivalent so measuring
[375]
thc in someone's blood doesn't equate to
[378]
behavioral impairment
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so there's no great scientific test that
[384]
100 tells us the answer is a person
[387]
impaired you know at this moment from
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cannabis
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[Music]
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