BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — Whether it’s opioids or alcohol, most drivers think twice about getting behind the wheel of a car after consuming. But what about days after you have legally used medical cannabis?
“I had no idea that when I got my card that I was putting myself in danger, not because I was driving impaired but because I was driving as a medical cannabis patient in the wrong state,” said Rep. Chris Rabb who represents portions of Philadelphia.
Rabb said Pennsylvania has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to cannabis and the DUI laws. Rabb said currently an officer does not have to prove the driver is impaired, only that the cannabis shows up in your system to get charged with a DUI.
“The test will only show there are metabolites in my system not that I’m high, not that I’m impaired,” Rabb said.
Those metabolites can show up to 30 days after using the drug. It’s that reason that over 30 states that have legalized cannabis have updated their DUI laws.
“We definitely are looking to other states on how they handle it; it’s something that comes up in the District Attorneys Association,” said Beaver County DA Nate Bible.
Bible said the big question mark surrounds how someone handles the drug. One may not look impaired, but another with less in their system does. That’s why he thinks there needs to be a better test if this law were to be changed.
“When you are looking at marijuana it’s sometimes hard to look at somebody and know if they are impaired so I think that’s a big hiccup there needs a little better test to develop this person has a legal amount in them, and there has to be some form of legal amount because it is some people’s medicine,” Bible said.
Rabb has now introduced this bill four times and hopes, with better understanding and bi-partisan support, this year will be the year for change.
“If someone is misusing it or high, they should not be driving and this bill provides no exceptions to anyone who is impaired for any reason,” Rabb said.
Republican Senator Camera Bartolotta also introduced a similar bill in the Senate and both bills were referred to the Transportation Committee.
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