Jacob Bell
New Member
Montana lawmakers are considering a bill that would revise the impaired driving law to add that any amount of a dangerous drug is a violation.
But supporters of medical marijuana worry House Bill 33 would criminalize the nearly 27,000 people who hold medical marijuana cards.
Colonel Mike Tooley, head of the Montana Highway Patrol, says the effects of drugs on driving wasn’t tracked until 2009 but the results are sobering, even in Montana. “In 2010, there were 857 drugged driving cases that measured 18 different drugs,” Tooley says.
In a notable case, Tooley says the man who hit and killed Montana Highway Patrolman Michael Haynes in 2009 had a blood alcohol content of point-one-eight and had high levels of THC in his blood. THC is the main, active chemical in marijuana.
Advocates for medical marijuana say House Bill 33 unfairly targets them because the bill says, quote “driving with any amount of a dangerous drug or its metabolite in a person’s body is a violation.”
Rose Habib is a chemist and cannabis scientist from Missoula. “The presence of metabolites is only indicitive of past use or exposure not of impairment,” she says. Habib says THC can remain in the body for up to 30 days.
Opponents of the bill worry they’ll be targeted by law enforcement. Not so, say the bill’s supporters who say the burden still lies with law enforcement to show there’s probable cause, such as erratic driving.
The House Judiciary Committee did not immediately vote on the bill.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: transportationnation.org
Author: Jackie Yamanaka
Contact: transponation@gmail.com
Copyright: © Transportation Nation
Website: Medical Marijuana Supporters Fear Montana Drugged Driving Law | Transportation Nation
But supporters of medical marijuana worry House Bill 33 would criminalize the nearly 27,000 people who hold medical marijuana cards.
Colonel Mike Tooley, head of the Montana Highway Patrol, says the effects of drugs on driving wasn’t tracked until 2009 but the results are sobering, even in Montana. “In 2010, there were 857 drugged driving cases that measured 18 different drugs,” Tooley says.
In a notable case, Tooley says the man who hit and killed Montana Highway Patrolman Michael Haynes in 2009 had a blood alcohol content of point-one-eight and had high levels of THC in his blood. THC is the main, active chemical in marijuana.
Advocates for medical marijuana say House Bill 33 unfairly targets them because the bill says, quote “driving with any amount of a dangerous drug or its metabolite in a person’s body is a violation.”
Rose Habib is a chemist and cannabis scientist from Missoula. “The presence of metabolites is only indicitive of past use or exposure not of impairment,” she says. Habib says THC can remain in the body for up to 30 days.
Opponents of the bill worry they’ll be targeted by law enforcement. Not so, say the bill’s supporters who say the burden still lies with law enforcement to show there’s probable cause, such as erratic driving.
The House Judiciary Committee did not immediately vote on the bill.
News Hawk- GuitarMan313 420 MAGAZINE
Source: transportationnation.org
Author: Jackie Yamanaka
Contact: transponation@gmail.com
Copyright: © Transportation Nation
Website: Medical Marijuana Supporters Fear Montana Drugged Driving Law | Transportation Nation
