{"id":18590,"date":"2021-03-17T16:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/?p=18590"},"modified":"2021-03-19T11:43:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T18:43:35","slug":"chp-impaired-driving-report-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/chp-impaired-driving-report-released\/","title":{"rendered":"CHP Impaired Driving Report Released"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer and Deputy Director Ellen Komp at the CHP.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The California Highway Patrol has released its long-awaited\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0addressing drug-impaired driving, including driving under the\u00a0influence of\u00a0cannabis.\u00a0The report\u00a0contains numerous recommendations on improving DUI detection and prevention,\u00a0data collection, public education, etc., but does\u00a0not recommend adopting\u00a0per se\u00a0drug DUI\u00a0thresholds like those used for\u00a0alcohol.<\/p>\n

The report is the work of the Impaired Driving Task Force (IDTF), in which California NORML and other interest groups participated, that was convened in the wake of the state\u2019s 2016 law legalizing adult use of cannabis. The task force was charged under state law SB 94 (2017) with developing, \u201c\u2026recommendations for best practices, protocols, proposed legislation, and other policies that will address the issue of impaired driving, including driving under the influence of cannabis and controlled substances.\u201dCal NORML participated in the task force meetings throughout the three-year process. Deputy Director Ellen Komp sat on the Best Practices and Protocols subcommittee and Cal NORML director Dale Gieringer sat on the Technology, Research and Data committee, along with researchers from UCSD and others.<\/p>\n

Cal NORML made sure the IDTF was informed of scientific evidence showing that driving impairment from cannabis cannot be determined through chemical drug tests like the alcohol breathalyzer. The report concluded: \u201cA per se limit for drugs, other than ethanol, should not be enacted at this time as current scientific research does not support it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0However, it recommended continued research in this area, as well as in other methods of detecting drug impairment.<\/p>\n

Dr. Thomas Marcotte of the California Center for\u00a0Medicinal Cannabis Research presented the results of a driving simulator study,\u00a0in which driving\u00a0impairment was measured alongside blood and saliva tests for\u00a0THC and a tablet-base performance test. The study found a \u201cmoderate\u201d effect of THC\u00a0on driving performance, with\u00a0a broad performance range for THC-positive subjects that was sometimes indistinguishable\u00a0from that of drug-free\u00a0drivers.<\/p>\n

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The IDTF at its first meeting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other recommendations from the task force address improved data collection, laboratory testing protocols, and increasing the number of Drug Recognition Experts (DREs) by four percent over the next five years. The report also recommends that, \u201cExpanded training opportunities should be considered related to impaired driving for Criminal Justice Officers (judges, defense attorneys, and prosecutors) covering factors contributing to impairment and bias in arrest\/prosecution\u201d and that, \u201cLaw enforcement shall use Mobile Video\/Audio Recording Systems (in-car cameras) and\/or body worn cameras to record\/capture impaired driving incidents and investigations, whenever available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prevention\u00a0education is also recommended, as is requiring cannabis retailers and\u00a0consumption lounges and event organizers to post warnings\u00a0regarding the dangers\u00a0of impaired driving. In addition, the recommendations state that cannabis\u00a0consumption sites should provide information regarding\u00a0locally available\u00a0alternate transportation to all\u00a0consumers.<\/p>\n

ONGOING\u00a0RESEARCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0lack of a test similar to an alcohol breathalyzer test that determine current\u00a0impairment due to cannabis use has been raised as an objection to\u00a0marijuana legalization\u00a0efforts across the country. For both the roadway and the workplace, Cal NORML\u00a0advocates for moving to performance tests, such\u00a0as tasks performed on\u00a0computers, tablets, or smartphones that detect impairment due to drug or\u00a0alcohol use, fatigue, or stress.<\/p>\n

Cal NORML presented the task force with a demonstration\u00a0of the My Canary phone app that measures a subject\u2019s performance on a variety\u00a0of tests,\u00a0including: memory, tracking, reaction time, time estimation, and\u00a0balance. Dr. Nicholas Lovrich presented an overview of the DRUID app, a similar\u00a0app\u00a0that is currently being evaluated by several major universities throughout\u00a0the United States.<\/p>\n

The CHP demonstrated the use of\u00a0the Dr\u00e4ger and Abbot (formerly Alere) oral fluid drug screening devices. Oral\u00a0fluid tests have been used\u00a0by California police in a few pilot studies, but may\u00a0only be used after a driver\u2019s impairment has been detected by officers in the\u00a0field,\u00a0and cannot be cited as proof of\u00a0DUI. The report concluded, \u201cIf utilized, law enforcement\u00a0should use the\u00a0best available, scientifically validated, roadside presumptive drug testing\u00a0technology for possible drug-impaired driving\u00a0investigations. Further studies should be conducted to determine if oral\u00a0fluid is a suitable medium for collection of a chemical test sample\u00a0pursuant\u00a0to CVC Section\u00a023612.\u201d<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Since California\u2019s law legalizing the adult use of marijuana was implemented in 2018, the number of traffic fatalities per 100 million miles driven in the state has decreased<\/a> from 1.13 in 2016 & 2017 to 1.09 (2018) and 1.06 (2019). That figure for the US in 2019 was 1.11. In 2019, DUI\/DUID arrests in California dipped back near their 2017 record low after a slight increase the previous year: 2019 saw 124,928 DUI arrests, vs. 128,053 in 2018 and 123,318 in 2017. DUI\/DUID arrest numbers have been dipping since 2007.<\/p>\n

Prop. 64, which legalized the adult use of cannabis\u00a0in California in 2016, earmarked three million dollars annually to the CHP to \u201cestablish\u00a0and adopt\u00a0protocols to determine whether a driver is operating a vehicle while\u00a0impaired, including impairment by the use of cannabis or cannabis products, and\u00a0to\u00a0establish and adopt protocols setting forth best practices to assist law\u00a0enforcement agencies.\u201d The department may make grants to public and private\u00a0research institutions for the purpose of developing technology for determining\u00a0when a driver is operating a vehicle while impaired, including impairment\u00a0by\u00a0the use of cannabis or cannabis products.<\/p>\n

Cal NORML has been fighting \u201cSmoke a Joint, Lose Your License\u201d\u00a0laws<\/a> in California for decades, using science-based arguments as well as human\u00a0rights ones.\u00a0After objections from Cal NORML and others, AB 6 (Lackey 2017), which would have allowed oral swab testing for drivers, was amended to\u00a0instead\u00a0convene the task force.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Support Cal NORML’s work with a donation<\/a> or a membership<\/a> today!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The California Highway Patrol has released its long-awaited\u00a0report\u00a0addressing drug-impaired driving, including driving under the\u00a0influence of\u00a0cannabis.\u00a0The report\u00a0contains numerous recommendations on improving DUI detection and prevention,\u00a0data collection, public education, etc., but does\u00a0not recommend adopting\u00a0per se\u00a0drug DUI\u00a0thresholds like those used for\u00a0alcohol. The report is the work of the Impaired Driving Task Force (IDTF), in which California NORML … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":18598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.canorml.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}