DUI of Marijuana

 

Were you arrested for driving under the influence?

A new study has been published in the British Medical Journal with a bold new conclusion: Marijuana use can increase crash risk. This, however, is not new information by any means. The article, "Acute Cannabis Consumption and Motor Vehicle Collision Risk: Systematic Review of Observational Studies and Meta-Analysis," is a recapitulation of previous work published by other researchers. The authors created selection criteria for crash risk studies involving cannabis use. Out of over 2,975 studies, only nine fit their criteria, which turned out to comprise a mix of case-control and culpability studies, some looking at fatal crashes and some at injury crashes.

The authors then combined the data from the nine studies, seven of which found a positive relationship between cannabis use and increased crash risk, and came to the conclusion that cannabis use increased crash risk. They noted that the pooled risk was 1.92, (which equates to a blood alcohol concentration of between 0.06 to 0.07 percent). This study acknowledged that it did not examine dose related effects of cannabis use on crash risk, so there is still really no way to tell how much the crash risk varies with THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) concentration, time since ingestion, or experience with cannabis.

All this study tells us is that, on average, the crash risk of cannabis users is less than people that would be legally impaired by alcohol (0.08). The average blood alcohol concentration of arrested drinking drivers is 0.16g percent in California, with a corresponding crash risk of 29.48. Texting causes a crash risk of over 23 times, so the average marijuana user is considerably less impaired than the average drinking driver or texting driver. It is important to keep a study like this in perspective, in terms of just how much risk we are talking about when dealing with driving under the influence of marijuana.

 

Marijuana Possession and Traffic Offenses

There are strong defenses for those arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana, but there may be additional charges that come with this, such as possession of marijuana. If an individual can prove that the marijuana on their person or in their vehicle was prescribed for medical use, then they will likely not face possession charges, but can still face the possibility of a DUI of drugs conviction. Possession of marijuana in small amounts for personal use, even without a prescription, is only considered an infraction in the state of California. An infraction is similar to a speeding ticket and is the lowest level offense possible under California law.

Marijuana does have the ability to impair a driver's judgment, causing the driver to display irregular driving patterns such as swerving, drifting, slow speed and others. If a law enforcement official has reasonable cause to pull you over, such as witnessing the prior patterns, then you can lawfully be pulled over and may have to undergo field sobriety tests. One possible defense against driving under the influence of marijuana (DUI of marijuana) is an unlawful police stop. If your arresting officer gave you no reason for pulling you over, then the evidence against you may be thrown out. The defenses against marijuana smoking and driving are strong, and often result in a complete dismissal of charges or a reduction to an infraction such as reckless driving.