Pubdate: Mon, 13 Jan 2014
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: Monte Whaley

HIGH DRIVERS IN HOT SEAT

Colorado Will Use a Federal Grant to Raise Enforcement and Awareness 
of Driving While Impaired by Marijuana.

Efforts are expanding to keep those who overindulge on weed from 
getting behind the wheel- and punishing those who do.

A$400,000 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration is being used for an anti-imbibing and driving 
campaign and to train more law enforcement officers to spot 
pot-impaired drivers.

"It's ironic we're using federal funding for something that is 
illegal federally," Colorado Department of Transportation spokeswoman 
Emily Wilfong said. "But they (federal officials) do realize this is 
a traffic safety issue and needs to be addressed."

A chunk of the money will go toward television advertising. Posters 
warning of the danger of impaired driving will be distributed to 
stores that sell pot. The media push starts in March. Owners of 
medical marijuana dispensaries and recreational pot shops, and some 
users, who want to keep pot use on the straight and narrow are 
helping develop the campaign by participating in focus groups, Wilfong said.

"CDOT and the industry want to stress the importance of using this 
newly legalized drug in a safe manner," Medical Marijuana Industry 
Group executive director Mike Elliott said.

Public safety officials are worried that as the number of 
recreational pot shops increases, so will the number of people who 
get too high to drive.

"We may see more customers who used marijuana in the past, or those 
who have never used it, get behind the wheel," CDOT highway safety 
manager Glenn Davis said.

Currently, there are 185 specially trained drug recognition experts 
spread among Colorado law enforcement agencies. Officials hope the 
new federal funding will cover training for 35 more officers.

But Davis, a retired Littleton police officer, would like to see the 
ranks of trained officers swell to 300 to match the likely uptick in 
the number of pot-impaired motorists.

Officers probably will encounter the same outsized confidence from 
marijuana users, just as they do from drinkers stopped for erratic 
driving. Maybe even more so, Davis said.

"Every time I see a news article about marijuana use and driving, I 
see the same comments from people who are users who think they drive 
better and not worse after using," Davis said. "In many ways, it's a 
real tough audience to reach and convince them that 'No, you don't 
drive better, you drive worse.' "

Marijuana use was a factor in more than 1,000 driving-under-the- 
influence cases filed in 2012, according to CDOT. There were 24,742 
DUI and driving-while-ability-impaired cases filed in Colorado that year.

People convicted of DUI must submit to alcohol and drug evaluation by 
the state probation department. Data collected by the state showed 
marijuana in 1,045 of 23,519 evaluations.

Under Colorado's newest DUI laws, a motorist is presumed to be under 
the influence of marijuana if the driver's blood contained 5 
nanograms or more of active THC (delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol) per 
milliliter of blood at the time of driving.

A nanogram is one billionth of a gram.

But there is no consensus on the exact amount of pot a driver must 
consume before he or she is considered under the influence. That's 
because THC is absorbed differently into the blood stream than alcohol.

"Are you under the influence from one bong hit or a cigarette? It 
really depends on the strain of marijuana you use and the 
concentration of the strain," Glenwood Springs attorney Kip O'Connor 
said. "But when you drink a bottle of beer or a shot of whiskey, you 
have a pretty good idea of the dosage."

There are also various ways to ingest marijuana, including lotions, 
beverages and foods.

"With a brownie, and depending on its concentration, it can be in 
your body one to three hours before you feel the effects," said Kari 
Franson, associate dean for professional education for the Department 
of Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Colorado.

Frequent smokers, including those who have been using medicinal 
marijuana, can also build up THC tolerance. Many of those users argue 
that the 5nanogram threshold is too low. Medical marijuana users, for 
example, always have some level of THC in their blood.

"Even if someone feels fine," Franson said, "they are still probably 
at a positive level."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom