Driving High: The Hazy Future
After three years of vetting roadside marijuana testing devices, the Colorado State Patrol still cannot reveal if it’s any closer to approving such device.
CSP Public relations officials refused to talk about the matter.
Canada, which started selling recreational marijuana last week, already has approved a device: the Draeger5000.
Why is Colorado so far behind, then — when the state has allowed the sale of recreational marijuana for nearly five years?
Law enforcement will argue, they arrest impaired drivers, regardless of what is causing it — regardless of a testing device at their disposal.
Colorado Springs Police Officer Brandon McCoy puts it simply:
“If you feel differently, you’re probably going to drive differently,” said McCoy.
McCoy spends his overnight shifts looking for people driving when they shouldn’t. As a Drug Recognition Expert, or DRE — one of only five with CSPD — he is equipped with extra training to determine what could be incapacitating a driver.
“Impairment is impairment is impairment. Doesn’t matter if it’s by alcohol, doesn’t matter if it’s by a central nervous system stimulator, it doesn’t matter if it’s by cannabis. If you are showing impairment and you can’t operate your motor vehicle safely, I don’t care what the limit is, I care about is: can you operate your motor vehicle safely tonight?”
What Officer McCoy observes is admissible in court, whereas other roadside tests aren’t. To allow roadside tests into the court, it would take established case law — plus, a change in state statute.
Canada’s approved Draeger5000 comes with critique, too.
It reportedly doesn’t do well in cold temperatures, and costs roughly $5,000 per device, plus $30 per testing cartridge. It also would have to be level, which would require special outfitting in a cruiser.
That’s a hefty price to pay, for questionable results.
Jennifer Knudsen, a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor, says it will pay to be cautious.
“No hurrying. I think we need to take our time and use a lot of caution with it,” said Knudsen. “We don’t want to rush into anything that would put someone’s liberty at stake.”
It all begs the question: is a roadside device what Colorado needs, for the price it demands?
