A few weeks back, a proposal to let cops use marijuana swabs during DUI stops was refused by California lawmakers recently. The legislation by Tom Lackey of Palmdale would have established a THC blood level, basically the new age breathalyzer for seeing if someone is high behind the wheel.
Fortunately, Democratic lawmakers have blocked the Republican’s idea, which was supported by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a company dedicated in stopping the frequency of drinking and driving.
The argument is: marijuana DUIs are almost impossible to tell how impaired someone is via their THC blood levels. As most of you stoners know, even if you smoked a few days ago, your THC levels can still be elevated, due to someone’s tolerance. Even if you’re not “high.”
Medical marijuana proponents say this would cause smokers of this particular medicine to face expensive DUIs, or worse, jail time, even when they’re sober.
Those concerns were clearly shared by the Democrats on that committee, shooting down Lackey’s proposal to use such a device.
Unfortunately, Lackey said in a statement that he’ll be back next year with the same proposal:
Officers have numerous tools to deal with drunk drivers but lack the equivalent for drugs. Better tools for law enforcement have allowed us to cut down on drunk driving. We need to pursue the same strategy for drugged driving which is unfortunately rapidly increasing. I hope California will have the courage to act in the future, but today was clearly a setback for roadway safety.
Fuck officer Lackey, he’s obviously NEVER smoked weed before…
Stoners – 1, Lackey – 0
