Oregon Officials Recommend No Per Se DUID Standard for Marijuana
In most states a police officer must prove that a motorist is impaired (through field sobriety tests) before they can charge them with a DUID (driving under the influence of drugs) for marijuana.
However, some states, such as Washington, have a per se limit for THC. This means if you have a specific amount of THC in your system (5ng/ml in Washington), you’re automatically guilty of a DUID, regardless of actual impairment.
Thankfully, Oregon’s Liquor Control Commission – the entity tasked with overseeing the newly legal marijuana industry – has recommended against a per se THC limit in Oregon. The recommendations were made as part of the commission’s DUI Legislative Report released last month.
“The body of evidence that does exist indicates that while attitudes towards driving after marijuana use are considerably more relaxed than in the case of alcohol, the risk of crashes while driving under the influence of THC is lower than drunk driving”, the commission states in their report. “Little evidence exists to compel a significant change in status quo policy or institute a per se intoxication standard for THC. Instead, recommendations in this report aim to find avenues to change attitudes towards THC and driving among youth, increase the quality and availability of data, and strengthen the body of research.”
The groups full DUI report can be found by clicking here.
