By David Abott | Tucson Weekly
In the wake of the passage of Prop 207 legalizing adult-use recreational cannabis, lawmakers are struggling to define what constitutes driving under the influence of the drug.
One recent bill, HB 2084 introduced by John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills), seeks to set a blood level limit of 2 nanograms per milliliter to prove impairment, but the arbitrary setting of THC blood-level limits is not an accurate measure of intoxication, according to cannabis experts. There is also a dearth of field tests that would give law enforcement officers an effective way of measuring those limits.
“Per se” limits are also antithetical to the language and intent of Prop 207.
“There’s a lot of issues with these metabolites,” said Jonathan Udell, communications director Southern Arizona NORML, who also participated in the organization’s lobbying efforts.
Udell cited an article published last year in the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence finding that in five of eight studies on the subject participants were found to have more than 2 nanograms of THC per milliliter in their blood after five days of abstinence.
