Pubdate: Thu, 17 Apr 2014
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2014 Detroit Free Press
Contact: http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/opinion04/50926009
Website: http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

MICHIGAN LAWMAKERS TO DEBATE ROADSIDE SALIVA TESTS FOR MARIJUANA USE

Some advocates of medical marijuana say they'll attend a hearing 
Thursday in Lansing to oppose bills that would let police use 
roadside saliva testing if a driver is suspected of being under the 
influence of marijuana.

But the legislator who sponsored the proposal said opponents missed 
the point of his bills, whose primary aim is to get repeat 
intoxicated drivers off the road through better communication among police.

Saliva testing is "not critical to this legislation" although 
Michigan's police officers deserve to have it available, said State 
Rep. Dan Lauwers, a Republican from Brockway Township near Port Huron.

"We need to look to the future. This kind of testing has been 
approved in California," Lauwers said.

The saliva tests have not been approved throughout California but are 
being used in field trials by Los Angeles police to see if results 
can qualify as court-admissible evidence, said Don Targowski, a Santa 
Monica defense attorney who is active in marijuana cases. Targowski 
has offices in both suburban Los Angeles and Grand Rapids.

Under the Michigan proposal, motorists would not be arrested simply 
for failing the saliva test but only after being pulled over for 
"erratic driving." Then the saliva test would add confirming 
evidence, just as portable breath testers do in cases of drunken 
drivers to justify an arrest, Lauwers said.

"What we're really after is repeat offenders," he said. The spur for 
the bill was a double-fatal crash last year in St. Clair County in 
which a repeat offender drove under the influence of pain killers -- 
not marijuana, he said. The testing proposal, House Bill 5385, and a 
companion bill together would get repeat drugged-driving violators 
off the road more quickly by setting up the same notification system 
for police across the state of pending cases that's already in effect 
for alcohol-impaired drivers, he said.

The two bills are set for a Thursday hearing of the House Judiciary 
Committee. Those who represent the more than 100,000 state-registered 
users of medical marijuana said they plan to be there or will send 
others to speak against the bills.

"These tests are very flawed," said Adam Macdonald of Grosse Pointe 
Farms, chairman of the National Patients Rights Association, a 
nationwide advocacy group for medical-marijuana users.

"I've heard this will kick the ability to drive right out from under 
anyone who uses medical marijuana for up to 20 days" before the test, 
Macdonald said.

Saliva testing detects a subject's level of active THC, the active 
ingredient in marijuana, said Lapeer attorney Bernard Jocuns.

"Right now in Michigan, technically a medical marijuana patient is 
supposed to be immune from prosecution while driving, unless there's 
evidence of actual impairment of their driving," Jocuns said. But the 
test would ignore the evidence of actual impairment and merely show 
the result of a chemical reaction, he said.

State Rep. Mike Callton, R-Nashville, is listed on the saliva-testing 
bill as a co-sponsor. That shocked medical-marijuana advocates 
because Callton is the rare Republican who champions their causes, they said.

Reached Wednesday to ask why he supported roadside saliva testing for 
marijuana users, Callton said he must have misunderstood the bill or 
received a misleading description of it.

"I would never knowingly co-sponsor a bill like that -- I would not 
support that," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom