The Need for a Marijuana Breathalyzer
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Thursday, October 08, 2015
Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor
As of now, there are no methods to determine whether someone is immediately impaired by marijuana. In fact, Oregon does not even have a standard for what “impairment” means. That is causing problems for law enforcement, employers and other groups around the state that need definitive proof of a person’s state of mind.
Measure 91, which legalized recreational marijuana in the state, has brought along as many questions as it did answers.
“Right now, the problem is that we don’t have any information on what constitutes impairment,” Karen O’Connor, a lawyer who specializes in labor and employment statutes and represents many employers in Oregon, told GoLocal. “We don’t even have a way to measure impairment.”
Driving While Impaired
Already, the subject of driving while high has reared its head. As GoLocal reported earlier this week, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a driver believed to be under the influence of marijuana.
Sgt. Peter Simpson, with the Portland Police Bureau, told GoLocal that currently, police use a combination of field sobriety tests and a blood test to see if a driver is under the influence of marijuana. He admitted, however, that this was an imperfect system, and said a “marijuana breathalyzer” would make officer’s jobs much easier.
“We’re concerned about people driving under the influence of marijuana, but it can be hard for us to monitor right now,” Simpson said. “An immediate test like a breathalyzer would allow us to police impaired driving like we do with alcohol and crack down on those who think it’s okay to drive while they're stoned. It would make the job much, much easier.”
Testing at the Workplace
O’Connor said that many employers are still exercising their right to test employees for drugs, including marijuana, as a condition of both hiring and employment. Part of the reason for that, she said, was because there is currently no way to distinguish marijuana from other drugs in the testing process.
“Right now if you have marijuana in your system, you’ll just test positive and probably have to deal with some consequences,” O’Connor said. “They’re still testing for all the reasons we saw in the past, mostly for safety and security reasons.”
However, if a more immediate test for marijuana impairment were available, it could change the landscape for employers and employees alive.
“Theoretically, I think it could have a big impact,” O’Connor said. “It would allow employers to see if their employees are impaired at work, or rather just consuming marijuana legally in their off-time. I don’t think most employers want to concern themselves with what their employees do after-hours if they can avoid it.”
Coming Soon?
Scientists and corporations are looking to develop ways to test for marijuana impairment more rapidly. At Washington State University, Herbert Hill and a team of chemists are working on a device that could detect marijuana in a person’s breath, and they’re not the only ones. Prototypes for similar devices have already been designed by companies like Cannabix Technologies and Lifeloc Technologies.
Despite the high demand for such a product, Hill told GoLocal that “we have a long way to go before we have a dependable test for THC.”
O’Connor agreed. “I think it’s going to take a while to get any reliable test,” O’Connor said. “It’s still illegal from a federal perspective, and most tests for products like this receive funding from the federal government, which isn’t coming anytime soon.”
Colorado and Washington, which have also legalized recreational marijuana, have set the standard for impairment at five nanograms of marijuana per millimeter in the bloodstream. However, that standard can only be determined with a blood test, which can produce positive results for marijuana even if the subject has not consumed any for weeks.
Oregon has no such standard yet. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which will be in charge for setting rules about recreational marijuana, is charged with determining a standard and detection method. They will give a presentation to the State Legislature in January with their recommendations.
Related Slideshow: 20 Things You Need to Know About Buying Pot in Oregon
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Employers Still Can—And Will—Drug Test
Many of the state’s largest employers, including Fred Meyer, Intel, Bi-Mart and Dairy Queen, will still test for marijuana, despite its new legal status. Companies that employ heavy equipment operators are required to buy insurance, and typically require drug testing.
Often, even companies that employ workers who operate machinery while simultaneously employing workers who do not will test, as the company will receive a lower monthly deductible if they test all of their employees across the board.
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Only a Quarter-Ounce per Customer, Please
Dispensaries will only be allowed to sell a quarter-ounce of marijuana per customer, per day. Residents are allowed different amounts for travel and home storage.
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Child Proof Packaging
Dispensaries, in addition to their limits on sales per person, also must package their recreational marijuana in a particular way. It must be placed in an opaque bag that is smell and child-proof.
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Can I Grow Cannabis at My House?
Those with a green thumb will be permitted to grow their own marijuana for private consumption. They are only allowed four plants per person, however, and each must be obscured from public view.
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How Much Can I Have at My House?
Residents will be allowed to keep plenty of dry marijuana (flowers or leaves that are ready to be smoked) in their home. They are allowed to store eight ounces, more than thirty times the purchasing limits, in their home.
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How Much Can I Travel With?
Traveling restrictions are stricter than regulations for home storage. Adults are able to travel with up to one ounce, or four times the purchase limit, on their person.
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Driving Under the Influence
Unlike the Washington law, which included attached regulations concerning driving impairment, Oregon’s law has more room for interpretation.
Driving under the influence of marijuana is classified as a Class B Traffic Violation, which carries a presumptive fine of $260 and is not to exceed maximum fine of $2,000. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has been tasked with researching the subject of drugged driving and presenting its finding to the Oregon Legislative Assembly no later than January 2017.
After reviewing the OLCC report, the state legislative assembly will decide whether passing more extensive driving regulations will be necessary.
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No Smoking in Public
Yes, marijuana is legal. No, that does not mean you can light up in the middle of the street. Consumption is only allowed out of the public view.
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Where will the New Tax Money Go?
Where will the tax money go?
Measure 91, the ballot measure passed last year that legalized marijuana in Oregon, stipulates that the tax revenue collected from recreational sales will be divided up in the following ways:
40 percent- Common School Fund
20 percent- Mental Health Alcoholism and Drug Services
15 percent- Oregon State Police
10 percent- Counties for enforcement of the measure
10 percent- Cities for enforcement of the measure
5 percent- Oregon Health Authority for drug abuse prevention
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Where You Can Buy Marijuana
Already licensed medical marijuana dispensaries will be allowed to sell recreationally beginning on October 1, although not every dispensary will sell recreationally.
For a full list of those that have been approved to sell to the public, click here.
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Not Everywhere
While marijuana is now legal for recreational use in the state of Oregon, some individual communities have passed laws banning recreational marijuana facilities from opening. Consumption will still be legal in these areas, but sales will not.
For a full list of cities that have passed these bans, click here.
Photo: Downtown Baker City; via Wikimedia Commons
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What to Do at a Dispensary
First time at a dispensary? No worries, said Meghan Walstatter, Owner of Pure Green Dispensary. Just ask plenty of questions to staff to ease all of your concerns.
Photo: Pure Green Dispensary
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Budtenders-Bartenders for Weed
Have questions as you make your purchase? No problem, just ask your friendly budtender. The cannabis industry’s answer to bartenders, budtenders are knowledgeable about the different strains and types of marijuana and their effects and are ready and eager to help novice smokers.
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Cannabis Indica
Indica, along with its sister sativa, are one of the two main types of cannabis. Each has their own unique effects on its user. Indica strains are known for relieving physical pain and giving users a sleepy, lethargic feeling.
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Cannabis Sativa
Sativa strains are the counter to indica strains.They are known for as a more mental stimulation, giving users more creative and sometimes, more focus
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Hybrids
The best of both worlds. At least, that’s what hybrids claim to be. They combine the properties of an indica strain and a sativa strain, by allowing users to feel relaxed, but not sleepy.
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Bring Cash
While some dispensaries do accept credit card, most do not, according to Leah Maurer, Co-chair of Women’s Grow. Make sure to bring some cash if you plan to purchase some cannabis today.
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How to Store your Cannabis
Concerned about storing your new marijuana in your home around your family? Maurer said to store it as you would alcohol or prescription drugs, away from the reach of children and teenagers.
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Don’t Cross State Lines
It will still be illegal to transport marijuana across state lines. That restriction even includes those crossing the Columbia River into Washington, where marijuana is also legal. Marijuana is classified as a Scheduled I controlled substance, meaning that anyone transporting it across line is prosecutable by Federal agencies
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Make Sure to Talk to Your Kids
It's likely that children and young adults will see more cannabis, and cannabis consumption, now that recreational sales have begun. Maurer said to make sure you have an honest, frank conversation about the benefits and consequences of the substance.
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