Drug-impaired drivers are a hazard on the road, and have been a contributing cause of vehicle collisions and fatalities in America. Local police enforcement across the nation have been trying to fight this problem and crack down on DUI driving. Even in states like California, where recreational marijuana use has been legalized, the local governments have laws in place prohibiting individuals from the use of drugs before or during the operation of a vehicle. But how can this actually be detected or enforced? Though there are physical affects of marijuana use, these signs are not always reliable. We will explore this issue and the upcoming solutions to this societal issue.

How much can marijuana actually impair you?

The Los Angeles DUI accident attorneys at Panish Shea & Boyle, LLP have years of experience working on drunk driving and drugged driving accident cases. They explained the impairment issues with marijuana and driving with the following:

"The use of marijuana can affect your judgement on the road, and it has been shown to seriously reduce the user's reaction time, memory, balance and coordination. The ability to recognize time and or speed can also be hindered. All of these senses are important to use and therefore required by California state law in order to safely operate a motor vehicle."

The actual effects of THC will vary from person to person, but it affects everyone. And when people take alcohol or prescription drugs in addition to the marijuana, the impairment can multiply.

What are local authorities currently using for detection?

Determining if someone is under the influence of marijuana when pulled over can be complex, and police forces like the CHP in California must rely on visual symptoms and tests to determine drug use.

There are some obvious indicators that police use to detect marijuana use, like the smell on the driver or within the vehicle, bloodshot eyes and erratic behavior. The field officers have been trained to conduct thorough examinations at the scene, utilizing field sobriety tests, blood pressure checks, and pulse monitoring, but these symptoms aren't typically enough to prove that the driver is under the influence. Organizations are quickly scrambling to find a quick, reliable detection device for this, similar to the alcohol breathalyzer concept.

The use of a breathalyzer allows for easy determination of blood alcohol content in cases of drunk drivers, but no on-site system exists for detecting THC concentration. While blood and saliva tests exist, it takes time to receive lab results. As the legalization of marijuana has widened the level of access, the potential for drivers under the influence has increased. Statistics have shown a recent increase in the percentages of drivers in the U.S. that tested positive for THC. According to NHTSA data, from the years 2007 to 2014 there was an increase of instances from 8.6% to 12.6% in America.

The need for a fast on-site system is present, and some companies, like Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies, have taken great steps to develop marijuana-specific breathalyzers for use with detection.

How does a marijuana breathalyzer work?

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive component in marijuana and is present in the body after use. A marijuana breathalyzer would work by detecting the recent intake of THC, ideally focusing on a timeframe of a few hours to tell when an impaired driver used marijuana.

By detecting the level and timeframe of marijuana use, a marijuana breathalyzer would use the THC readings from breath samples to determine just how impaired a driver is at that very moment, and the degree of influence of marijuana on their judgement and behavior.

What are the current challenges for drugged driving testing?

Unreliable results

No new technology comes without its troubles, and the development of marijuana breathalyzers is no different. While current breathalyzer models aim at detecting whether THC is in the body, it appears there are limitations on just how accurately it can judge impairment.

Drugs can impair different people in different capacities. That's why alcohol breathalyzers measure a blood-alcohol content level: to account for the varying tolerances between individuals of different height, weight, and gender. With marijuana users, the exact level of impairment can change from one person to the next.

A newer marijuana user may be more affected by a smaller dose, while experienced users need much larger portions to reach impairment. The amount of THC ingested doesn't line up with level of impairment in as straightforward a way as blood-alcohol content does. Even if marijuana breathalyzers can determine that THC is in a person's system, it may not provide an accurate assessment.

A regular user may still have traces of THC in their system, even if they haven't used any marijuana that day. If a marijuana breathalyzer detects THC, it may have no influence on whether the individual is high or not while driving. For routine marijuana users, traces of THC can remain in their bodies for up to 30 days after their last use. Fat stores THC, and the compound is still active. As THC slowly releases over time, it can still have effects on the user—which makes an accurate marijuana breathalyzer much trickier to create.

Drug driving enforcement could lead to profiling

There are concerns that without a standard for intoxication measurement, it could lead to or justify unwarranted police stops and some fear even racial profiling. Just simply looking like a stereotypical marijuana user, troublemaker or simply looking different doesn't equate to legal grounds for a motor vehicle stop or citation. On the flip side of this, however, the marijuana test tool could help in proving the innocence of a driver that was wrongly accused of driving while high.

How does the future of marijuana breathalyzers look?

Marijuana breathalyzers could answer a growing need to determine impairment as the legalization of marijuana spreads. Besides helping cops make correct calls in cases of drug-influenced driving, an on-site breathalyzer could be useful in areas of work where drug use could create major safety issues with equipment and logistic functions.

While these breathalyzers are still in development, the companies taking on the challenge will need to address the lack of correlation between THC levels and impairment. A more thorough understanding of how the other chemicals in marijuana besides THC affect individuals could also contribute to more accurate breathalyzer results.

Recreational marijuana use: handle with responsibility!

With the legalization and a possible increase of use of marijuana, it's key to understand, just like with alcohol, that marijuana use does impairs driving, and it's extremely dangerous to drive while intoxicated. In our society it's important for there to be consequences to those who drive under the influence. Until an accurate breathalyzer or on-site testing method arises, cops will need to rely on observing the potential user's behavior and blood and saliva lab tests to determine drug use. Most importantly, our society must make a conscious effort to practice and encourage safe driving on the roads, so we can all get home safe to our loved ones.

This article was written in collaboration with the Los Angeles accident attorney team at Panish Shea & Boyle, LLP. They offer legal council to personal injury and accident victims throughout California.