The bill’s sponsor says that the results will be used for purposes of establishing probable cause only; a positive test result would be not viewed as prima facie evidence of impairment.
Topic: Driving
The legislation sought to impose new criminal penalties for any motorist who operates a vehicle with the presence of THC in their blood above 5ng/ml.
The study’s findings suggest that alcohol, not cannabis, “remains a greater threat to road safety.”
“Overall, there is no clear evidence that [legalization] had any effect on rates of ED visits and hospitalizations for either motor vehicle or pedestrian/cyclist injury,” authors determined.
“Subgroups with past-year cannabis use that displayed significant declines in DUIC include males, [those] ages 18–25, … and those living in a state with a medical cannabis law.”
Compared to those residing in legal states, residents in states were marijuana was illegal “reported a significantly greater number of days driving under the influence of cannabis.”
The study found, “[T]he entry of retail cannabis stores is not associated with a statistically significant change in traffic crashes per 100,000 population in Colorado.”
Authors concluded: “[A]cute, oral CBD treatment at doses up to 1500 mg does not induce feelings of intoxication and is unlikely to impair cognitive function or driving performance.”