Do Police Need A Breathalyzer For Legal Marijuana Enforcement?

Published: Monday, September 23, 2019 - 2:14pm
Updated: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 - 11:48am
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If police pull over a driver they suspect is drunk, they may administer a Breathalyzer test to figure out that driver’s blood alcohol content.

But as more states legalize marijuana — Arizona voters could decide the issue next year — there are questions about how law enforcement officers determine if drivers have too much TCH in their systems. THC is the main psychoactive component of marijuana.

A team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh says they’ve developed a kind of Breathalyzer for pot. But one law enforcement official says the new device won’t necessarily impact how officers do their jobs.

Gary Cutler is a master trooper with the Colorado State Patrol Public Affairs Office. Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 and allows users to have up to 5 nanograms in their system before they’re considered impaired.

Cutler explains how the process of determining whether drivers are impaired has evolved over the years.

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