With the proliferation of both medical and recreational marijuana, there are growing concerns about impaired driving. These concerns have been enough to cause most states to pass legislation accordingly. Unfortunately, the states have a big problem with accurate roadside impairment tests.
Traditionally, field sobriety tests designed to identify alcohol impairment have relied on things like speech analysis and the dreaded heel-to-toe walking test. Field sobriety tests are inconsistent. However, when combined with a breathalyzer test, they are fairly accurate in determining impairment.
The same field sobriety tests were never designed to detect marijuana impairment. And unfortunately, we do not yet have any equivalent to the alcohol breathalyzer test. But researchers are working on it.
An Ongoing Federal Study
Marijuana Moment reports on a federal study being conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The ongoing study could ultimately result in a successful breath test for detecting marijuana impairment at roadside.
Current roadside tests involving breath samples rely on just a single sample. But researchers believe they can get more accurate results by taking multiple samples. Apparently, several samples taken within a one-hour timeframe provide a more accurate measurement of impairment.
The research is far from conclusive at this point. And in fact, researchers do not yet have a usable field test to offer. But coming up with one is the ultimate goal.
A Needle in a Haystack
Researchers have long struggled to develop a good marijuana breath test because, as researchers put it, detecting THC in the breath is like “looking for a needle in a haystack.” And even when THC is detected, readings are not accurate enough to determine just how recently the subject used marijuana.
My question is whether a breath test can be utilized to detect anything other than marijuana smoking. Future roadside tests need to account for medical cannabis consumption, given that smoking medical cannabis is not the norm.
Most states ban smoking medical cannabis for obvious reasons. Such is the case in Utah, where Brigham City’s Beehive Farmacy says patients rely on vapes, tinctures, edibles, and topical lotions instead of smoking.
Perhaps a Different Measurement Is Needed
I could see where using a vaping product would result in measurable THC on the breath. But what about the other delivery methods? Would using a tincture, edible, or topical lotion produce the same amount of breath-born THC?
Perhaps a different type of measurement is needed. And when it comes to something like a topical lotion, perhaps no measurement is needed at all. I cannot imagine a person using enough lotion to be impaired. That is not how THC topicals work.
The one thing we do know is that current roadside tests are neither consistent nor dependable. A person could pass an alcohol-designed sobriety test and still be impaired by marijuana. Without a consistent breath test to go alongside field sobriety test results, we just do not have an accurate way of determining the impairment.
A Lot We Don’t Know
Trying to come up with a reliable roadside test from marijuana impairment hasn’t been easy. That’s because there is a lot we do not know about marijuana and cannabinoids. We are woefully behind due to so many years of federal restrictions on marijuana research.
Now that some of the federal shackles have been taken off, research is picking up. We stand to know a lot more about marijuana in the future. Perhaps one day we will have a reliable roadside impairment test that will help us crack down on marijuana impairment as effectively as we have on alcohol impairment.
