Drugged driving - how does it play?

[Orual]

Hypothetical situation:

You are a responsible smoker - you NEVER drive high or even remotely so.

You are at a red light or going through an intersection and are creamed by a drunk/elderly/reckless-teen driver.

Either as a result of injury or as a precaution you get the ambulance ride; of course a blood sample will be taken. You will test positive for cannabis use.

Will you receive a DUI citation?

Is there any test that can be performed that would indicate that you were not intoxicated at the time of the crash?

If you are injured through no fault of your own, will your health insurance reject the claim?

Car wrecks are inevitable; almost makes it not worth the risk, ya know?

State is FL if that helps ( I know - NAZI police state for sure).

What states have addressed this situation?

Orual

 

[nnnnghhhhgnnngh]

Good question.
Unfortunately I have no idea as to the answer. I would expect police to charge you with DUI and possession of controlled substance but I am naturally pessimistic.

 

[T-type]

they measure thc and its halflifes, they have acceptable levels of all...
So they will know if you've smoked recently, and they will know if you have smoked not so recently...
They will charge you with operating a motor vehicle under the influence for just marijuana, i dont know if they would in the case of an accident thats not your fault....
Anyways its an easy charge to beat, judges don't care, they will drop it to reckless op and you lose your license for a bit, get some probation... probably

of course this is my state, not yours, and yours is worse than mine....
Death penalty maybe?

 

[Orual]

Our hypothetical is the ideal IC'er. He/she grows their own in reasonable amounts and knows better than to carry and drive. He/she follows "don't tell, don't smell, don't sell". This question is purely about the after accident (no fault of our hypothetical stoner) blood test.

 

[Orual]

No doubt about the halflifes. But a person could smoke on a Saturday morning, enjoy the day, and drive for some errands late in the afternoon. By then they will be as straight as the day they were born.

So, is there any test that measures psychoactive canniboids vs. metabolites?

How do the medical states handle this?

I will totally move to another state to avoid this scenario. A DUI charge in the southeast is no joke. Totally will F up a person's life for about a year and cost $10000.

I know it would be nearly impossible, but if one were to obtain a legit script for marinol, what would happen in our hypothetical?

Orual

 

[3dDream]

You are f'ed. That's the point of it. There is no test that will show if you are high at the time (other than observation) so the blood test is it. BTW I am your hypothetical smoker/grower and your question is something I have thought about. It is a risk you would have if you didn't grow and just smoked.

 

[Polsevogn]

they measure thc and its halflifes, they have acceptable levels of all...
So they will know if you've smoked recently, and they will know if you have smoked not so recently...
They will charge you with operating a motor vehicle under the influence for just marijuana, i dont know if they would in the case of an accident thats not your fault....
Anyways its an easy charge to beat, judges don't care, they will drop it to reckless op and you lose your license for a bit, get some probation... probably

of course this is my state, not yours, and yours is worse than mine....
Death penalty maybe?

Does the government in the US pay for expensive, precise drug tests that could possibly hinder your prosecution? Seems more likely they would just test and decide it based on a threshold.

Still, a grey area and a frightening idea. Drunk driving is seriously terrible, also. +k

 

[resinryder]

Took this from a site here in Nevada that tells what the legal limit for marijuana in the blood stream is. The limit may be changed by now as the below is/was a bill that was proposed at some point. Should be noted tho that the term "nanogram" is an extremely small amount. Smoke it this week and depending on your individual metabolism you could still under the law be found guilty of dui.


....measure the amount of the active marijuana ingredient THC in a driver's blood. It raises the legal limit to 15 nanograms of THC from 2 nanograms.

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans serif] [SIZE=+3]nanograms[/SIZE]

[SIZE=+1] Abbreviations: ng

Definition: (NAN-oh-GRAM) A nanogram is one billionth of a gram. There are 28.35 grams in an ounce. ng/ml, which means the number of nanograms per milliliter of fluid. [/SIZE] [/FONT]

 

[Orual]

Yeah, about the ngs. 50 nanos is the positive cutoff for most dipstick tests used in employment and even a lot of probation stuff. Positives are sent for GC/MS confirm. An occasional smoker (once or twice a month) can sometimes test clean at 50ngs in 3 or 4 days. At 2 or even 15ngs, who knows? 2ngs seems pretty harsh as people could test positive for secondhand, or environmental contaminants, or .....

I've got calls in to some lawyers in Cali, Colorado, and here in FL. I'm quite certain of how it would work in FL, but I'd like to set it straight and see how it's done in more friendly states.

 

[Orual]

Polsevogn,

They certainly wouldn't do any more tests than they had to to get you to plea. It's really all about the $. I often wonder how LE is in other countries. Do they spend their time trying to stop robbers, rapists, and murderers?

Seriously, just last night, I was nearly arrested for WALKING DOWN A SIDEWALK!!!! I kid you not. It was about 9:30 pm and the weather was nice, so I decided to stroll down to the quicky mart about a mile away for a soda. I guess I was going to be charged with "walking after dark while under the age of 40" (nothing but old farts in FL).

Orual

 

[accessndx]

I'd like to see an alternate universe where alcohol was just barely tolerated or illegal and marijuana enjoyed all the benefits of this universe...LOL.

 

[Orual]

accessndx,

Move to Iran or Pakistan! Booze isn't legal and good weed grows wild all over the place!

 

[boroboro]

Do any local/state/federal police do blood tests like this if there is no suspicion? I was in a serious accident a few years ago in a certain U.S. state. Dumb driving, nobody was drunk or high. Police and ambulances showed up, but there was never a question of drug testing.

I saw another serious accident last winter, snowmobile-pedestrian. County and State police were there. No drug tests. Dumbass riding my snowmobile sure would have failed a breathalyzer test, though...

 

[funker]

if they just did a blood test then THC would not show up...

 

[T-type]

if they just did a blood test then THC would not show up...

What?
How do you think they find thc in your system

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Hypothetical situation:

You are a responsible smoker - you NEVER drive high or even remotely so.

You are at a red light or going through an intersection and are creamed by a drunk/elderly/reckless-teen driver.

Either as a result of injury or as a precaution you get the ambulance ride; of course a blood sample will be taken. You will test positive for cannabis use.

Will you receive a DUI citation?

Is there any test that can be performed that would indicate that you were not intoxicated at the time of the crash?

If you are injured through no fault of your own, will your health insurance reject the claim?

Car wrecks are inevitable; almost makes it not worth the risk, ya know?

State is FL if that helps ( I know - NAZI police state for sure).

What states have addressed this situation?

Orual

No, you will not receive a DUI citation if the accident is not your fault.

The police have to request the blood test results from the hospital, it is nothing they have access to by default.

Unless they are pressing charges, the hospital cannot release any test results to them. Patient confidentiality and whatnot.

Same thing goes for the insurance question.. If it wasn't your fault, nobody from the insurance company is getting at those test results.

NORML's site has state laws and breaks down which have laws on "drugged driving."

 

[Polsevogn]

No, you will not receive a DUI citation if the accident is not your fault.

The police have to request the blood test results from the hospital, it is nothing they have access to by default.

Unless they are pressing charges, the hospital cannot release any test results to them. Patient confidentiality and whatnot.

Same thing goes for the insurance question.. If it wasn't your fault, nobody from the insurance company is getting at those test results.

NORML's site has state laws and breaks down which have laws on "drugged driving."

That sounds like good info; also agrees with not hearing of this happening. Gotta +K you when I refill.

 

[Pythagllio]

Either as a result of injury or as a precaution you get the ambulance ride; of course a blood sample will be taken. You will test positive for cannabis use.

That is incorrect. THC does not remain in the blood after you're finished being high. You will not test positive for cannabis use in the situation you described. Further, unless they have some probable cause those are medical records, and protected. People that end up in the hospital after drunkenly wrecking their cars smell like alcohol, giving them probable cause to demand the records.

Oh, BTW I got rear ended at a traffic light in 1995. I was stoned to the bejeezus belt. The asshole hit me at like 35 mph, made my truck look like an accordion, knocked me senseless when I hit my head against the pick up rear window, and it sent me to the hospital. To the best of my knowledge they didn't do any tests for drugs. I sure didn't end up with a DUI. Yes, I drive stoned all the time. After 31 years of smoking your sure never going to convince me that it's dangerous or 'irresponsible'.

 

[Orual]

I appreciate the feedback I've gotten to my question here in my first IC thread. Thanks, folks. It seems the issue is a getting a little clearer.

For people living in one of the states with "drugged driving" laws, the following would apply.

"In 15 states (Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin), it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle if there is any detectable level of a prohibited drug, or its metabolites, in the driver's blood. Other state laws define "drugged driving" as driving when a drug "renders the driver incapable of driving safely" or "causes the driver to be impaired."

- http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/driving.html

A driver could certainly have a problem with the hypothetical situation if they live in one of these states.

Pythagllio corrected my statement "that a sample will of course be taken". Sometimes it happens, sometimes it don't. Probably depends on the officer's discretion whether to request one. A poor driving record or history of drug and alcohol convictions might influence this; don't know.

For people living on other states, it seems a blood test would confirm whether or not psychoactive THC was present. I've heard that it is possible to abstain long enough to clear metabolites, smoke, and immediately pass a dipstick UA since no THC has been metabolized.

 

[Quentin]

Those new Breath tests for TH8C have got you licked.You Drivers will never be able to enjoy the stoned drives that the passenger enjoys.Now would Vinegar throw out the breath analysis or Alcohol based Fresh breathners. Chewing gum with ethanol centres.

The breathinator (my new idea) is worn inside the shirt, easy access to breather tube that will quickly supply fresh oxygen bursts to help you pass the test.

Vinegar? There must be some way that will take away those nano parts.