420 with CNW – Michigan Commission Advises the State to Avoid Setting THC Impairment Limit for Drivers

April 1, 2019 03:20:14

The Impaired Driving Safety Commission, a body that was set up by Michigan’s Governor, has recommended that the state should not set any threshold for the THC content in someone’s blood before that person is regarded as being impaired while driving.

This six-member panel was mandated to find a scientifically-backed limit for THC in blood and suggest what provisions should be put in the law to define when a driver is impaired by cannabis.

The members of the commission include a toxicologist, a law enforcement officer, a medical cannabis patient, doctors and cannabis use and traffic experts.

This panel wrote in its report that there was no scientific information upon which they could base a decision on how much THC in someone’s blood renders that person impaired while driving.

Additionally, the commission stated that there wasn’t any correlation between the amount of THC present in a driver’s blood and driving impairment.

The members also observed that according to the research they reviewed, the THC content in someone’s blood drops rapidly shortly after the person consumes cannabis. Conversely, impairment increases slowly and reaches its peak long after THC levels have dropped in that individual’s blood.

The issue of impairment is also affected by someone’s history of cannabis consumption. For example, a non-regular user of cannabis may become impaired after taking a small amount of marijuana.

However, a more regular user may require a larger dose of the substance in order to be impaired to the same degree as the individual who is an irregular user and consumed a little cannabis. Consequently, the commission recommended that the THC level in someone’s blood was a poor determinant of whether that person was driving while impaired.

The panel then suggested that roadside sobriety tests should be used as a more reliable way to determine if a given driver is impaired or not. This suggestion brings to mind the sobriety tests that are administered to drivers who are suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol.

How then can a police officer distinguish between impairment due to alcohol and impairment due to cannabis consumption? A blood test administered once a person fails the sobriety tests can help to distinguish between impairment caused by cannabis and that caused by alcohol.

The findings of this commission bring to question the decision of the states that set a THC threshold to determine when a driver is impaired by cannabis.

For example, Colorado, Montana and Washington State put the threshold at 5ng/ml. Nevada put the limit at 2ng/ml while Pennsylvania set its limit at 1ng/ml. How were these limits arrived at?

Redfund Capital Corp. (CSE: LOAN) (OTC: PNNRF) (Frankfurt: O3X4) and SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING) applaud the commission for looking at the available scientific data and then making an objective decision without being influenced by what other states have done to define driving while impaired by cannabis.

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