By: Marla Garden
Welcome to the year that recreational marijuana is legal in California! Of course, it’s not a utopia, and it may never be. The state has to adjust to legalization, and they’ve begun testing a marijuana breathalyzer. Smoking and driving has been illegal, but the breathalyzer will allow police to determine if drivers are under the influence.
Previously, people being pulled over for erratic driving, who needed to be tested for marijuana, were subjected to field sobriety tests and blood, breath, or urine tests. Blood, breath, and urine tests have been inaccurate because THC can stay in your system past the point of affecting your driving capabilities. The new breathalyzers being tested in California will allow for more effective testing, and consequently, diminish the number of arrests of people who are not under the influence of marijuana but do have THC remaining in their system.
The worst thing that has ever happened to me while driving stoned is that I sat at a stop sign for a minute too long, waiting for it to turn green.
Hound Labs is the creator of the new THC breathalyzer that is being tested. Instead of merely detecting the presence of THC, Hound Lab’s technologies measure the amount of THC in the system. Their breathalyzers measure THC in parts per trillion, which is extremely accurate.
The THC measured by the breathalyzers is from smoke that enters your bloodstream through your lungs and is exhaled. The breathalyzer can, therefore, measure THC that entered your bloodstream through ingesting edibles. The THC measured by breathalyzers has entered the bloodstream through edibles or inhalation. When the lungs exhale, the breathalyzer will then measure the THC.
The breathalyzers are an improvement in technology but they aren’t fail proof for determining if a driver is under the influence. What about tolerance and body mass index? Measuring whether drivers were impaired by marijuana is full of nuances.
These new breathalyzers should be utilized throughout California by late 2017. It’s a half win for the cannabis community.
