420 with CNW – Roadside Marijuana Breathalyzers Could Soon Be Available

October 15, 2019 15:20:09

Drivers who have smoked marijuana in the past three hours will be easily identified using roadside breath tests, which may be available in 2019. It has been reported that the two companies manufacturing roadside marijuana breathalyzers such as Oakland-based Hound Labs and Sann Tex are hoping that by the second quarter of 2020, their breathalyzers will be ready for use.

Mike Lynn, who is the co-founder of Hound Labs, said that his company’s Breathalyzer would be able to identify someone who has used marijuana in the past three hours since that is when the drug is in full effect, and as a driver you are impaired.

The AAA Foundation for Safety published the results of a survey they conducted earlier this year, which showed that close to 15 million Americans had driven a vehicle after smoking weed in the past one hour or used marijuana in the past 30 days.

Both companies are developing devices designed to check the presence of THC in the body. THC is the compound that gives the high effect.

Compared to alcohol, THC detection in the body is very hard because the amount of psychoactive compounds in the body is minute. That is, it is a million times lower than the quantity of alcohol in a drunk person’s body.

The Breathalyzers will help fill a gap in the marijuana market since medical and recreational marijuana are increasingly being legalized across the country, said the developers.

For the police force to determine if a person is under the influence of cannabis, they have to go through an expensive and time-consuming process where Drug Recognition Officers (DROs) are used to identify people who have consumed marijuana in the past 1-3 hours. DROs are specially trained to identify people who are under the influence of any drug.

When a DRO suspects a driver of being under the influence, the said driver is driven to the hospital for blood tests, which identifies the type of drug in their system. The DRO then has to provide testimony in court, which is time-consuming.

The new devices will make the work of the police ten times easier since they can directly identify and convict people under the influence of marijuana; thus, reducing the cost and time spent by the police. It also reduces the work of the defense attorneys when proving their client’s innocence if they were wrongly accused of being high while driving.

Companies using heavy pieces of machinery or engaging in dangerous tasks could also use the testers to check if their employees are under the influence to minimize the occurrence of accidents. This would be beneficial to both the employer and employee.

The Madera Police Chief, Dino Lawson, in an interview with Sacramento Bee, said that the new technology is exciting, and although the police force is happy about it, they hope more improvements will be made to perfect the device.

Analysts believe that marijuana industry players like Hemptown USA and Sugarmade Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) may be having reservations about these devices since determining marijuana intoxification isn’t as easy as identifying alcohol intoxication.

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