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Dalton Duhart

Mrs. Taylor

ARC Grade 12

01 November 2018

Putting a Stop to Impaired Driving

Police officers need to find a way to invent a roadside test that is always available to see

if drivers are actually driving under the influence of marijuana and other drugs. It is a known fact

that you cannot drive under the influence of marijuana and be safe to those around you and

yourself (“Does Marijuana affect Driving,”2018). Impaired drivers kill and harm people all the

time. The effects that marijuana can have on the brain and body while operating a vehicle are

immense. We still, in 2018, do not have an easy and successful way to be able to check instantly

to see if the driver is impaired.

Impaired driving is one of the most dangerous things in the world and according to

Medical News today the 4th most common cause of death in the 20th century. Out of all of those

deaths the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) states the fact that 39% of

crashes can be the fault of impaired driving. The punishments for getting caught driving

impaired can be severe. Madd.com tells us that the federal laws state that in Canada, where

marijuana was just legalized, your first time caught driving high you can receive a minimum of

$1,000 fine. The second offense being a fine as well is at least 30 days of imprisonment. That

punishment is for when a police officer catches someone driving and no accident is caused or no
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person injured. If a person is harmed due to an impaired driver then that driver could get a

maximum of 10 years in prison. If a person is killed then the person can get charged with the

maximum penalty, life in jail, which is a very severe punishment that can turn someone's life

upside down. Yet according to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), 5% of Canadians

reported that they have been in the car with a person that consumed marijuana within the last 2

hours.

One of the problems with driving under the influence of marijuana today, is that police

officers do not have an accurate test to determine whether or not a person is high on the drug.

MADD also informs us that when a police officer has a suspicion that a person is driving under

the influence of marijuana they can “demand that a driver comply with either a standardized field

sobriety test or provide an oral fluid sample.” A standardized field sobriety test is very

inconsistent and has its flaws. As the Law Office of Kohlmeyer and Hagen states, “The problem

is that these tests are highly inaccurate and subjective. Conducting field sobriety tests on a hill, in

bad weather or in a busy, distracting part of town will negatively alter the results”. These reasons

make it imperative that a test more accurate is important to be found and put in place as soon as

possible.

What if a scientist could expand on a breathalyzer used for alcohol and have it test for

THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol)? This is “the main mind-altering ingredient found in the Cannabis

plant.” as stated by Alina Bradford in her article in Live Science. If police officers had this kind
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of tool it would save so much time, money, and effort for the authorities, civilians, and doctors.

Now a days in Canada and states like Colorado, if the police officer believes that the driver is

under the influence of marijuana they would take the time to perform the sobriety test, the same

one used for alcohol. If the police officer has the suspicion that the suspect is still guilty of

driving under the influence then the police officer is supposed to take the suspect in for

additional testing. This includes testing blood work and bodily fluids, which the suspect and the

authorities would then still have to wait for the results. Whereas if they could have a roadside

breathalyzer with them, like they always carry for alcohol, then they would not have to waste

their time, money, and effort they could just have an answer in a matter of seconds.

There are some people that would not like the idea of a roadside breathalyzer because of

claims that this device could possibly not be accurate. If the officers do not calibrate them on a

daily basis or accurately, the machine could possibly give out a false positive. This type of error

could cost an innocent person a lot of money as well as possible jail time and a criminal record.

The Canadian Global News states that “The federal government has pledged $161 million dollars

in funding for police training and drug-testing equipment over the next five years”. People do not

want to spend that much money on a machine that they feel may not be accurate. Although the

cost is high, that amount of money and development time, would be able to produce an accurate

instrument to perform the test. People that don’t want this are usually people that would be

driving while under the influence of marijuana. For safety reasons, it is imperative that this

instrument would be available to law enforcement.

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Police officers are very aware of the number of fatal accidents that have increased

because of the growing popularity of marijuana use. “"Marijuana use in driving is a growing,

contributing factor to fatal crashes," said Jake Nelson, the director of traffic safety advocacy and

research at the American Automobile Association (AAA). "It's a highway safety problem that we

should all be concerned about."”. It is a known fact that law enforcement is aware of the growing

increase that the legalization of marijuana has done to impact the fatality rate on the roads. It is

extremely important that these factors are taken into consideration and acted upon. Automobile

insurance companies and law enforcement are anxious to find a way to keep people safe on the

roads. If civilians do want to take part in the newly legalized law of consuming marijuana, they

need to do it safely and responsibly so they do not harm themselves or the people around them.

After further researching this topic, I believe that a roadside breathalyzer should be available at

all times to police officers to check for drivers under the influence of marijuana. This would not

only save the government money in the long run, but also help get impaired drivers off of the

streets. Roadside breathalyzers used for the detection of marijuana would help lower the number

of accidents that injure and kill people in places that the drug is legal, like Canada, and parts of

the United States.

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Works Cited

Bradford, Alina. “What Is THC?” LiveScience, Purch, 18 May 2017.

“Field Sobriety Tests & Police Mistakes | DWI Criminal Defense - K|H LAW.” Kohlmeyer

Hagen Law Office.

Ghose, Tia. “Does Driving High on Marijuana Increase Fatal Crashes?” LiveScience, 10 May

2016.

jean.yoder.ctr@dot.gov. “Drunk Driving.” NHTSA, 30 Oct. 2018.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Does Marijuana Use Affect Driving?” NIDA, June 2018.

Nichols, Hannah. “The Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in the United States.” Medical News

Today, MediLexicon International, 23 Feb. 2017.

Seiden, Deidre. “RCMP Gazette.” Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2 Jan. 2018.

Staff. “New Roadside Test to Detect Marijuana Coming to Canada.” Global News, 4 Sept. 2018.