DUI defense attorney L.A.

August 10, 2018

Taking the High Road: Drivers Paid to Participate in Marijuana DUI Study

University of California-San Diego is conducting a study out of its Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research to better cannabis DUI understand how marijuana use impairs driving. The study is the largest of its kind and seeks to gather some hard data on levels of cannabis and impacts on common driving scenarios, according to High Times. Participants will be paid for a full-day driving assessment in which they will smoke a joint before completing a variety of simulated driving scenarios. The joints are rolled on site, and each has a varying level of THC concentrations carefully monitored by the researchers.

The study has two aims: to gather data on how different cannabis concentrations affect different drivers and to examine how long the high from THC will continue to affect the driver to the point of impairment, if at all. These answers are so crucial in the on-going efforts to legalize marijuana nationwide. A huge roadblock for many politicians, even the ones who do not fall for weak anti-marijuana propaganda, is the uncertainty about how to regulate marijuana usage on the roads. Methods that commonly are used to test for marijuana can detect it in a person’s system for up to two weeks. Clearly a person would not be too impaired to drive for 14 days after consuming marijuana. Therefore, law enforcement officers must rely on field sobriety tests to determine cannabis-related impairment. Their current tests, however, are largely geared toward alcohol or drugs that create a deep level of impairment. The effects of cannabis are often softer and less clear. Participants in this study will take a field sobriety test after smoking and completing driving tests, which in turn could help officers fine-tune their own tests to more effectively identify impairment for marijuana users. Continue reading

November 4, 2017

Marijuana DUI Enforcement in Los Angeles

By Cannabis Law Group

One of the main arguments against the legalization of marijuana, other than the long- disproved gateway drug theory, is that there will be more cases of people driving under the influence of marijuana. This is not necessarily the case, but regardless of whether there were be more people driving under the influence of marijuana in Los Angeles, is how the police and prosecutors will try to prove someone is under the influence at the time they were driving.|

cannabis technology lawyers When someone is driving while intoxicated by liquor, there is no question as to the effects alcohol has on a person’s ability to drive, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has amassed decades of research. For example, at .08, which is the legal limit in California, a person will have poor muscle coordination, having trouble detecting danger, a lack of judgement and self-control, impaired ability to concentrate and many other physical and mental issues that makes it dangerous to drive. Continue reading

January 28, 2017

SB 65 Would Ban Marijuana Use While Driving

By Cannabis Law Group

Marijuana is legal in California, but lawmakers are looking to ban the so-called “country cruise.” Specifically, state legislators have proposed in Senate Bill 65 banning the act of smoking marijuana while operating a motor vehicle. driving

This might seem like common sense – or perhaps already covered under existing impaired driving laws – but legislators insist the law will close a gaping loophole left by Proposition 64, the ballot measure California voters approved in November that legalized marijuana for recreational use. Prop. 64 does ban the presence of an open container of marijuana in a vehicle, but it doesn’t say anything about using marijuana while driving.

The measure was proposed by two Democractic lawmakers, Assemblyman Evan Low and Senator Jerry Hill. Continue reading

August 26, 2016

Study: California Car Insurance Spikes $1,500/Year for Driving Under Influence of Marijuana

By Cannabis Law Group

When it comes to drunk driving, the laws are fairly uniform from state-to-state. There may be some variation in penalties, including the amount of the fine or the length of possible jail time. Some states require ignition interlocks after a first-time offense, while others leave it up to the discretion of the judge. policelights

But when it comes to driving while under the influence of marijuana, states are a bit all over the place. For example, there are six states in all that impose limits on how much THC (the primary psychoactive ingredient in cannabis) a driver may have in his or her system before he or she is deemed impaired. Twelve states have zero tolerance policies, which means any amount of THC in a driver’s blood is going to be used as proof the driver was impaired. The majority of states don’t have any concrete laws concerning marijuana and motorists, say the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

The primary issue is the point at which a driver is considered “impaired.” A recent analysis conducted by Nerdwallet revealed that while the standards ascertaining intoxication vary wildly, the one thing any driver arrested for driving under the influence of marijuana can expect: Higher auto insurance rates. Continue reading