Ohio Passes Unfair Drugged Driving Bill
NORML regrets to inform you that earlier this week the House and Senate gave final approval to Senate Bill 8, Ohio's proposed per se "drugged driving" bill. While some of our allies on the House Criminal Justice Committee valiantly tried to address some of our concerns by introducing several amendments to the bill, SB 8 - as approved by both chambers - would still potentially punish marijuana smokers for "drugged driving," even if the individual is neither under the influence nor impaired to drive.
The bill is expected to be signed into law by the Governor, whose administration lobbied for its passage, and will take effect 90 days after his approval.
What's wrong with the bill? It punishes marijuana smokers who are not under the influence at the time they are driving.
This pending law represents an all out assault on Ohio's marijuana smoking community. Because marijuana's main metabolite, THC-COOH, remains detectable in certain bodily fluids, particularly urine, for days and sometimes weeks after past use, this legislation seeks to define sober drivers as if they were intoxicated. Someone who smokes marijuana is impaired as a driver at most for a few hours; certainly not for days or weeks. To treat all marijuana smokers as if they are impaired, even when the drug's effects have long worn off, is illogical and unfair.
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