Companies Race To Develop Marijuana Breathalyzer

Companies Race To Develop Marijuana Breathalyzer
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On Jan. 1, 2018 California will be the latest state to have legalized recreational marijuana, but one problem facing regulators is how to test drivers for being under the influence of marijuana. Several companies are racing to develop ways to test if a driver is impaired by marijuana use.

The Oakland-based company said that the devices will get to market sometime next year and will cost between $500 and $1,000. The company is working with the University of California Berkley and University of California San Francisco on the technology to detect THC, according to KTRK.

“The Cannabix marijuana breathalyzer is a cutting edge, non-invasive drug impairment recognition system. It uses breath-testing technology to test individuals for recent consumption of THC,” said the company in a statement.

Currently, police officers in California have to use traditional field sobriety tests and context clues to determine if a driver is high, like the smell of marijuana or dilated pupils. Some police feel that they have gotten much better at determining if drivers are high over the years.

So now that more people are switching over to pot use vs DUI....the trend will be moving over to DUCI (driving under cannabis influence). This is true that smoking marijuana delays reaction times and is considered by some to be a "medicine". So if the medicine is too strong, this can impair one's judgement.

Or this could be a total conspiracy to fine people and tax them in others ways.

Thoughts?

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

I'd like to see the specifics of how it works. And how it can differentiate between being currently intoxicated and recent use.

I doubt a cannabis breathalyzer is something that would work that well. I don't doubt they'll sell a lot of them to police departments though.

originally posted by: Skywatcher2011
So now that more people are switching over to pot use vs DUI....the trend will be moving over to DUCI (driving under cannabis influence).

Is it true that because pot becomes legal people are going to stop drinking and just smoke pot instead (getting driving while high instead of drunk charges)? Certainly not so that they could avoid a DUI, I wouldn't think.

Just because something becomes legal doesn't mean that everyone is going to come out of the woodwork and become addicts to it. Their common sense in avoiding it the whole time while it was technically illegal, yet easily attainable carries through legalization, it would seem to me.

Making booze illegal back in prohibition times didn't stop it, it just made it harder to get and connected to crime intricately due to its illegality, so it would seem that in reverse legalizing marijuana is probably going to remove criminality from the equation and make things better.

If the government is dealing it, with regulations, isn't that at least better than having thugs on the street where who knows what you get, or whose blood is spilled for it?

It seems fair that if they are going to test for driving under the influence of marijuana, they should also be testing for driving under the influence of prescribed pharmaceuticals . How many professionals out there operating vehicles when their prescriptions say “ do not operate heavy machinery or drive”?

They are singling out one medication and it’s biased and unfair !

Won’t even go into the incidents of drivers driver ng under the use of pharmaceuticals that they have not been prescribed.

Many of these drugs are much more dangerous to drive under the influence with than simple marijuana.

Crazy backwards testing in some cases , if you ask me.🤔

a reply to: Sheye

That being said, they should make it so your cell phone WONT work while inside a car. IF IT'S SUPPOSEDLY ABOUT SAFETY!!!!! It's NEVER about safety. IT'S ABOUT MONEY. Start there!

originally posted by: hombero

If the government is dealing it, with regulations, isn't that at least better than having thugs on the street where who knows what you get, or whose blood is spilled for it?

Two separate industries...one regulated and the other is not.

Question is whether or not the breathalyzer invades one's human's rights.

At the end of the day I have no problem with this. But a human should know better if their judgement to safely drive is not impaired. And if not, the law will enforce it upon you.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Alcohol is efficiently detoxed out of the body. It can easily be calculated from weight, gender, age, time, etc how long it's been in someones system. It's why the 'road side' tests are rather just a broad stroke to say "yup this person is drunk" and then the real more accurate test is given down at the station.
Weed on the other hand can stay in a persons system for much, much longer. I can remember a few years ago I was out cruising with a friend of mine, a cop pulled him over and accused him of smoking pot because his car smelt of it (he did indeed smoke pot in his car during winter months in his drive way usually) he was taken on a wild ride to the station, had his car towed, and had to take swabs and all sorts of tests to prove he wasn't high. Even at that, to get his impound charge paid back was a week long process.
The whole thing is a mess, and I am pretty sure it's why governments have dragged their feet so long to legalize it, because it's not as black and white as drinking and driving.

a reply to: Skywatcher2011

Currently, if you are suspected, you get a drug test. If you have smoked in the past month, you will probably fail. That is grossly unfair. At least this way cops can bust people that are actually driving while high... in theory. In practice, they abuse everything. Give them an inch...

In Australia, the police have had on the spot saliva tests that can detect cannabis for like over 15 years now...

Its not exactly revolutionary technology.

Why make a breathalyzer?

-Just pull over the people who aren't speeding and are extra polite.

This is just business recognizing the justice departments greed and getting in the middle for a profit.

Sell liquor licenses, promote alcohol, make some dead babies videos, make a 10k+ fine, sit back and profit.

Hell, might as well push alcohol, which causes violence, then remove gun rights when people get in a fight with their spouses. Win win!

I've never seen evidence that smoking pot increases risks for accidents.

My hypothesis is that smoking ought to make you so paranoid you'll obey the driving laws even closer than sober people do. Heck, most people speed multiple times a day.

I say driving while high should be 100% legal.

Just one easy question, has there been ANY INDEPENDENT UNBIASED tests done on how marijuana affects driving capabilities?
Or are you all going down the route that because it's illegal now it's got to be illegal to drive with it in your blood stream with no information except what has come from those trying to demonise it anyway.

originally posted by: Subaeruginosa
In Australia, the police have had on the spot saliva tests that can detect cannabis for like over 15 years now...

Its not exactly revolutionary technology.

Yeah, I was going to mention that too. Insurance will sometimes use those here, if a worker is injured and they need a way out of honoring their policy that was paid for.

originally posted by: Mandroid7
Why make a breathalyzer?

-Just pull over the people who aren't speeding and are extra polite.

I see you noticed that too.

I welcome this kind of test as long as it is accurate and doesn't result in false positives. It might even help make the case for legalization in states that haven't passed it yet (mine included).

If you can pass a field sobriety test then you are fine to drive if you cant then DUI.

How hard is that ? why do we need an apparatus?

Take a trillion in tax revenue and start throwing people in jail. Nice.

a reply to: Mandroid7

Yea, but how accurate is it?
If I smoked a joint the day before after work, had a full meal, maybe mowed my lawn, did some house work, slept, woke up, went to work and had an incident, or got into a auto collision on my way home from work the substance would technically be still in my system, is there a cut off point? How can it be measured?

originally posted by: crayzeed
Just one easy question, has there been ANY INDEPENDENT UNBIASED tests done on how marijuana affects driving capabilities?

Um... Someone just like me that I know really well drove 750,000+ miles without putting a scratch on the car.

That individual exercised quick reaction times and avoided some bad drivers that weren't paying attention.

So I can say those experiments showed it to be pretty damn safe.

No further comments.

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: Mandroid7

Yea, but how accurate is it?
If I smoked a joint the day before after work, had a full meal, maybe mowed my lawn, did some house work, slept, woke up, went to work and had an incident, or got into a auto collision on my way home from work the substance would technically be still in my system, is there a cut off point? How can it be measured?

It can only be detected by the saliva test for up to 2 to 4 hours after... apparently.