Pubdate: Fri, 14 Mar 2014
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Jenny Deam

A POT HEADACHE FOR COLORADO POLICE

Driving While Stoned? With Legalization, Officers Must Learn to 
Identify Those WHO Are High

GOLDEN, Colo. - The instructions seemed simple enough: nine steps 
forward, heel to toe, a quick turnaround, then nine steps back. But 
for the guy swaying a bit as he walked, his face slack, his eyes half 
closed, it was all too much.

He made the nine steps forward and stopped, forgetting what came 
next. "Wait. What?"

Colorado State Trooper Jason Morales dutifully marked it down in his 
report, just as he had a few minutes earlier when the suspect closed 
his eyes and tilted his head back to guess the passage of 30 seconds. 
After 90 seconds, Morales shook his head.

Although the scenario was comical, no one in the cinder-block room at 
the Colorado State Patrol training academy was laughing. Here in 
Colorado, this is serious stuff now that marijuana is legal: Law 
enforcement is scrambling to get up to speed in spotting drug-impaired drivers.

On Jan. 1, the state became the first in the nation to allow those 
older than 21 to purchase recreational marijuana. Decriminalization 
supporters cheered, pot shop cash registers hummed, and state coffers 
begin to fill.

In January, Colorado took in $2 million in pot taxes, officials said 
Monday. State officials have predicted a windfall of more than $134 
million per year from heavily taxed marijuana sales, which include a 
12.9% sales tax and a 15% excise tax.

But some in law enforcement are less enthusiastic.

"It certainly has made things more complicated," said Darrell Lingk, 
the Colorado Department of Transportation's director of transportation safety.

With nothing comparable to the roadside breath test to detect drunk 
drivers, officers must hone their skills at figuring out whether the 
driver is high on drugs, he said.

Last week, 20 officers graduated from a nine-day Drug Recognition 
Expert course, the first since Colorado legalized recreational 
marijuana sales. The final test was an evaluation of a suspect who 
exhibited behaviors consistent with being stoned.

Students checked the suspect's pupils for dilation, tested his 
balance, measured his heart rate and blood pressure, challenged his 
short-term memory and listened for slurred speech.

This latest graduating class brings the total number of DRE-certified 
officers in the state to 212. Lingk said the hope was to reach 300 by 
the end of 2015 as well as encourage officers from every jurisdiction 
to receive at least some drug recognition training.

Although DRE classes have been around for decades in the U.S. - the 
first one was created by the Los Angeles Police Department in the 
1970s - those taking this one acknowledged a new sense of urgency 
because of marijuana's change in status.

"You make it legal, you're just going to raise consumption. It's more 
work for us," said Jerry Sharp, a Greeley state trooper.

An instructor in the DRE class, he took the part of the stoner in the 
role-playing exercise; he passed some tests and failed others to show 
fellow troopers the challenges of assessment. "It's like putting a 
puzzle together."

The scope of the problem is largely unknown, in part because in the 
past if a driver tested positive for alcohol, authorities did not 
check for drug use. That is changing.

In January, the State Patrol began keeping track and found that of 61 
traffic stops for impaired driving, 31 involved marijuana. Officials 
said it was a small sampling because it came from only one law 
enforcement agency, which does not make stops in major metro areas.

"Other states are watching us to see how we handle it," Lingk said.

Colorado and Washington state voters passed referendums in 2012 to 
legalize recreational marijuana. But medical marijuana is legal in 20 
other states, including California, as well as in Washington, D.C.

By 2017, at least 10 states could join Colorado and Washington in 
legalizing recreational use, said Morgan Fox, communications manager 
for Marijuana Policy Report, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group.

Among those watching what happens are U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder 
Jr. Although marijuana use is still a federal crime, Holder has told 
federal prosecutors in Colorado and Washington state that small-time 
recreational use is not a priority. But he has said he will watch for 
underage access to marijuana and problems with impaired driving.

Drunk driving remains more prevalent than drugged driving, Lingk 
said, but "drugs are starting to catch up, especially in Colorado." 
He noted there had also been an uptick in heroin and methamphetamine 
use in the state. One of the skills DRE graduates learn is how to 
spot needle-track marks obscured by tattoos.

The Colorado Assn. of Chiefs of Police has urged Gov. John 
Hickenlooper to use some of the marijuana-tax windfall to create a 
grant program for police departments to cover extra costs related to 
legalization.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation has begun a 
$1-million public service campaign called "Drive High, Get a DUI."

The idea is to remind users that driving while stoned is a crime, and 
to counteract some users' misconception that they drive better when high.

Using humor to target men ages 21 to 34, the ads feature a series of 
stoned characters trying to do everyday things.

In one wordless ad, a man tries repeatedly to switch on a grill while 
his friends look on: It turns out there is no propane tank.

The ad's tag line reads: "Grilling high is now legal. Driving to get 
the propane you forgot is not."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom