Addressing the Problem of Marijuana Impaired Driving

Once a state has decriminalized marijuana, it must address the traffic safety issue of marijuana-impaired drivers. One alternative is per se standards, which follow the alcohol-impaired driving protocol. Under these standards, if a driver's blood plasma levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are equal to or greater than a specified criterion, she or he is considered to be an impaired driver and is subject to arrest. However, there is a lack of correlation between blood-plasma THC levels and actual impaired driving. Therefore the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other organizations have concluded that per se limits on THC are unsuitable. Given that objective means of assessing marijuana-impairment levels do not currently exist, it makes sense to establish standards of impaired driving based on physical observation. Drug recognition expert officers are the best resource to evaluate drivers for psychoactivity and impaired driving.

• Record URL:
  https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/marijuana-impaired-driving.pdf
• 
• Summary URL:
  https://reason.org/policy-brief/addressing-the-problem-of-marijuana-impaired-driving/
• Corporate Authors:

  Reason Foundation

  Los Angeles, California  United States 
• Authors:
  • Moore, Teri
• Publication Date: 2018-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: 5p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Blood analysis; Drugged drivers; Highway safety; Marijuana; Police motorist contacts; Standards; State laws; Traffic arrests
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01728847
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 28 2020 9:47AM