Education and promoting effective laws to reduce Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID)
About DUID Victim Voices:
Many voices are heard when a state considers stronger DUID laws. The voices of the marijuana lobby, law enforcement professionals, forensic toxicologists, and drug users typically dominate. DUID Victim Voices represents the interests of the victims of drugged driving, providing fact-based education and a victim perspective to decision makers and to the general public.
Background
All states define alcohol DUI per se with laboratory tests that prove impairment by a blood alcohol level greater than .08 gm/dl for adults and greater than zero (or .02 gm/dl) for minors. Laboratory tests are routinely performed for all suspected alcohol DUI cases. Only 19 states define drug DUI (DUID) per se by objective laboratory tests.
Three additional states have established permissible limits for marijuana’s active THC in drivers, but these limits are a poor substitute for comprehensive drug per se laws. All other states use more difficult, costly, and subjective means to prove DUID on a case-by-case basis, with highly variable results.
Incompetence or Dishonesty?
May 23, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a
How common is drugged driving?
Estimated causes of DUI cases from Colorado’s Office of Research and Statistics, Department of Public Safety Sources: Rosenthal. Driving Under the Influence of
Colorado drugged driving prevalence and impaired driving conviction rates
The peer-reviewed journal Traffic Injury Prevention published our manuscript online January 4, 2023. Colorado drugged driving prevalence and impaired driving conviction rates: Effects of impaired driving
The facts on drug per se laws
A benefit of federalism is that states can experiment with various ways to solve societal and legal problems. But this only works if states learn
Spreading the Truth
SAM, Sensible Approaches to Marijuana, is an organization dedicated to fighting the commercialization of marijuana and its expanded use. Their original charter is now expanding
THC per se laws don’t work and are not needed: There’s a better way
THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) is the primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana that causes driving impairment. Legislators have long sought a per se level of THC in