If marijuana is legalized in CA, then how will cops be able to test people for a DUI?

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I'm all for legalization of marijuana for recreational use, but I'm concerned about the increase of people driving while they're stoned if the legalization bill passes.


Is there a way that cops test to see if someone they've pulled over is high from smoking pot?

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  1. KC V ™ says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Law enforcement officers typically uses three tests to determine if a driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These ‘standardized field sobriety tests’ are:

    - the one-leg stand
    - walk and turn, and
    - horizontal gaze nystagmus test.

    Police officers are trained by the NHTSA in conducting these tests to increase their accuracy. In addition, an officer is likely to administer a breathalyzer, blood, or urine test soon after these field sobriety tests to more accurately determine BAC or potential drug interaction.

  2. joe.attaboy says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Well, if there isn’t, there will be soon.

  3. Uncle Pennybags says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Surely people drive stoned now, even though Marijuana is illegal.

    I would imagine they will test in the exact same way they do now.

  4. Seb says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    You’re the reason marijuana is illegal in the first place.

  5. Robert Heinlein fan says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    people that will drive stoned then are more than likely doing so now.

  6. The Arsonist says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    That’s why is illegal.

  7. Bungholio says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Gee…how do they do it when the person’s drunk? Last time I looked, alcohol was legal.

    Think about it.

  8. Alicia says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    You can be arrested if your under suspicion of being under the influence of drugs. They will take the arrested in and have them submit to a drug test.

  9. Baroccoli says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    If marihuana is legalized in California, then The DOJ Eric Holder better take them to court for superseding Federal Law like he’s doing with Arizona. If he doesn’t, then he’ll prove that this administration is more about ideology than it is about the law.

  10. Casy says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    yes. they already do it.

  11. boogielips says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    they have a new test that you blow in just like for booze.i just no this because the got stolen at a police convention here and was on the news

  12. Lola says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Unfortunently, no – there is no conclusive, scientific way to know if somebody is currently under the influence of marijuana. You can see if they have it in their system, but that doesn’t mean that they are high at that very moment. I am fully in favor of marijuana decriminalization, but it is a fairly significant loophole.

    To be fair, when a person is stoned, they either do not want to drive, or they drive like a grandma. Of course there are always exceptions, which is why it would be great if we had a way to know if they were high at the moment. But we don’t :[

  13. Jimmy Whispers X says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Alcohol is legal and i very rarely indulge in a drink. When/If marijuana become legal i will probably never smoke it. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean people will start doing it. I’ve smoked weed twice in my life and didn’t much care for it, but who am i to tell people they can’t do something?

  14. New name, it must be spring! says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    field sobriety tests, backed up by blood tests. Current standards will mean that almost anyone who claims to have been using "medicinally" is driving illegally already.

    Just because they’ve come to rely on the Breathalyzer, doesn’t mean it is the only way of determining whether someone is sober.

  15. Stevie says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    This is one of the biggest arguments that those who do not agree with the legalization of marijuana have. The inability to properly test users. Marijuana can remain in your system for upwards of one month, longer for habitual users. How does one determine if a users is "high" while on the job?

    The answer is…they can’t. The cops can administer a test that will prove whether or not the user has used marijuana in the last three months or so, but its not possible to prove whether or not they are presently under it’s influence. Most users can perform quite normally under the influence, so even a "sobriety" test would be useless.

  16. &hearts says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    dui

    driving under the influence can also mean under the influence of prescription drugs, and recreational/illegal drugs.

    its not a hard thing to find out. its called giving them tests. walking in a line/etc..

  17. 5 dollar footlong says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Yes, there is. Standard urine tests can tell whether or not pot is in your system up to a month after you smoked it.

  18. William says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    Yes, and they can probably book them on suspicion. Pot is no where near as debilitating as alcohol, but I certainly don’t want drivers stoned on the highway.

  19. tehabwa says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    ??????

    Today, what’s to stop someone from smoking a doob and hopping in their car? Absolutely nothing. To think that will change is silly.

    Obviously, if you’re smoking IN your car while driving, the cops have reason to think you’re DUI. That, too, won’t change.

    Another thing that won’t change? A person dropping LSD and getting in their car and driving.

    You’re making up things to worry about. Nothing about DUI will change in the least if it becomes legal for people to use pot.

  20. cDaMan says:
    July 21, 2010 at 1:45 pm

    well, its true that you should drive while high, but those who do are much less likely to have an accident than those who are drunk.

    and for a first timer, yeah, 1 joint is gonna fcuk them up, but for an experienced user, it may take 3 joints, and 1 joint they will be able to drive a car, so if a cop pulls a guy over, he will be able to see that the guy has really red eyes and that if he can’t keep his cool, if he keeps his cool and doesn’t act stupid and exhibit the behavior of a stoner, then hes probably ok to drive.

    im sure that over time they could develop a thing where you would prick the guys figure or something to get blood and do a lousy quick blood test that could determine if the guy is high, and it wouldn’t be to sensitive so that people who smoked a day ago wont get arrested.

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