cannabisnews.com: Marijuana DUI Law Challenged





Marijuana DUI Law Challenged
Posted by CN Staff on April 02, 2003 at 15:45:20 PT
By Geoff Dornan, Appeal Capitol Bureau 
Source: Nevada Appeal
The Assembly Judiciary Committee was told Monday Nevada's marijuana driving under the influence law will eventually be overturned in court, unless it is changed.Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, introduced AB362, saying current law declares anyone with more than 2 nanograms of "marijuana metabolyte" in their system to be under the influence.
She said that means someone can be convicted of DUI days, or even weeks, after using marijuana -- long after its intoxicating effects are gone.Deputy Clark County Public Defender Howard Brooks told the committee the existing law doesn't measure intoxication and, therefore, will eventually be overturned by the courts."This bill strengthens the DUI law by tying criminal liability to impairment, and impairment is what we want to stop," he said. "If this bill doesn't pass, I feel it will only be a matter of time before we are able to successfully challenge the current law."Giunchigliani told the committee she isn't trying to weaken the law, only to make sure that those who are convicted of driving under the influence of drugs are actually guilty. She said -- and two chemists who operate marijuana-testing programs agreed -- that the appropriate thing to measure is the amount of the active marijuana ingredient THC in someone's blood.But Dan Berkable, director of the American Toxicology Institute in Southern Nevada, and William Anderson, head of the Washoe County crime lab toxicology division, disagreed over how much Delta 9 THC it takes to be under the influence.Berkable said metabolyte, especially in a regular marijuana user, "will just stay in the bloodstream at a certain level for days, weeks." He said that doesn't mean the person is an impaired driver for days or weeks, because the effects of the drug are usually gone within a couple of hours.Berkable said setting the legal limit at 15 nanograms of THC, instead of 2 nanograms, would fix the problem.Anderson, however, said that's way too high. He said THC disappears so rapidly from the blood that someone may be double or even triple that limit when they are stopped, but well below it an hour or two later when tested by law enforcement.He pointed out that, of 531 tests in Washoe County's lab, 319 were positive, and the average was just 6 nanograms of THC in the blood. He said if the legal limit is set at 15, almost none of those stopped would have been guilty."The level at the time of the blood draw is not the level at the time of the stop," he said.The committee took no action on the bill.Source: Nevada Appeal (NV)Author: Geoff Dornan, Appeal Capitol Bureau Published: April 01, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Nevada AppealContact: appeal tahoe.comWebsite: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/Related Articles:Nevada Bill Boosts Legal Marijuana Level http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15836.shtmlGiunchigliani's Marijuana Measure Criticizedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15769.shtml
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Comment #6 posted by ekim on April 03, 2003 at 12:56:47 PT
Ethan and Nick can you help
 If someone had used cannabis say one gram, in smoked form. What do you think the naooos reading would be. Iam interested in the account in the above peice that says that thc quickly leaves the blood stream. Do you know of any tests that would say that someone with 15 nans would be impaired. You said before that it is debateable. Has Norml ever come out with any limits that they would support as someone being impaired. I would hope the upcomming seminar would speak to this issue as it is getting more and more attention across the nation. A while back it was reported here that the police have a new tool for cking five different drugs at traffic stops it is a flash light size object which is run on a fuel cell that only needs to be a foot or so from the person to detect some level of use.It sounds like a sniffer. Has Norml been able to ck this object as to acceracy. What level of reading does it ck for. Thank you for anyhelp.
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Comment #5 posted by The GCW on April 02, 2003 at 21:59:47 PT
Talk about unfair...
US OH: Court Says Mom's Use Of Pot Not Reason To Remove Kidshttp://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/1049279516247770.xmlhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n481/a05.html?39704/02/03Karen Farkas 
Plain Dealer ReporterAkron- Smoking marijuana daily does not make a woman an unfit parent and her four children should not have been removed by a county agency, an appeals court has ruled. Teresa Scott is a single working mother who paid her rent and provided loving care to her children, her lawyer said, but when she admitted she smoked marijuana, the Summit County Children Services Board removed the children in August 2001. The agency's decision was upheld in the county's Juvenile Court. The 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals overruled that decision, 2-1, on Monday. "While this court certainly does not condone a parent's use of an illegal substance or abuse of a legal substance, parents have a fundamental right to raise their children," said appeals Judges Donna Carr and William Batchelder. "Without some evidence that Teresa's supervision of her children or the environment of her children has been affected in some negative way by her use of marijuana, there is not clear and convincing evidence" the children should be removed. Judge Lynn Slaby dissented. "I believe the continued use of an illegal substance can do nothing but have a detrimental impact on the children," he wrote. He said people may argue that alcohol abuse may not warrant the removal of children, but "I believe there is a distinction between using a legal substance and the continued use of an illegal substance." Scott, of Akron, may soon be reunited with her children, ages 8, 11, 12 and 15, who have been living with relatives. The decision will not be appealed, and the case will go back to Juvenile Court, where Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio will decide who will have custody of the children, said Louise Miller, spokeswoman for the Children Services Board. Juvenile Court Judge Judy Hunter, who was defeated by Teodosio in November, had ruled that Scott's drug use affected the children's environment. Hunter gave the county temporary custody. "Her whole family was disbanded and torn apart and she absolutely wants them back," said Scott's lawyer, Richard Kutuchief. "Children Services was being overzealous as a watchdog, and the sole issue was whether her smoking marijuana was justifiable to remove and estrange the children from their parent." According to court documents, a social worker at an Akron hospital contacted Children Services about possible child abuse after Scott took her son to the hospital. His adult half-sister had hit him on the leg with a belt buckle when he was at his father's home. A Children Services caseworker later spoke to Scott after receiving additional information that Scott's children were smoking marijuana and that the children were unsupervised in her home. Scott admitted that she smoked marijuana once or twice a day but that it was never done in front of her children. She agreed to have her urine tested that day for the presence of drugs. She arrived 15 minutes too late for the urine test because she went to a job interview. The next day the county removed her children. Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Philip Bogdanoff said he was disappointed in the appeals court decision. "If the parent is high on drugs, it does affect the environment of the child," he said. Kutuchief said Scott visits her children and is in drug counseling. He said he was unable to find any case law dealing with the specifics of his case. "If a person uses marijuana to relax or in the same fashion as alcohol, is it bad?" he asked. "Would it be better for the court if she was on Prozac or another prescription drug that could be more intense than marijuana?" To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: kfarkas plaind.com, 1-800-628-6689 
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Comment #4 posted by 312 on April 02, 2003 at 21:59:02 PT
Home piss tests
I saw an article on the news in New Zealand last night. A company has now developed a drug testing kit that can be bought in a shop and is intended for parents to be able to test their children. It seemed quite expensive to me at the time and tests for opiates, speed, cocaine, THC, but not XTC. Here's a link if you want to post it.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?thesection=news&thesubsection=&storyID=3301837&reportID=16
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on April 02, 2003 at 21:36:31 PT
Note: story pertains to plants, not drugs.
US MS: Minister Won't Identify Woman To Drug Agentshttp://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/20030402/topstories/44355.htmlhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n480/a04.html?397Wednesday, April 2, 2003Minister won't identify woman to drug agents
Lea Crager and Nikki Davis Maute
American Staff Writers--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An effort to help a parishioner has landed a Hattiesburg minister in the middle of a controversy with federal drug enforcement authorities. 
But the Rev. Kenneth Fairley said he will not violate the sanctity of the ministry by providing federal drug agents the identity of the woman who gave him a bag with an estimated $100,000 worth of marijuana she found in her house in February. Fairley, pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, said the incident occurred when one of his parishioners asked him for advice on what to do with a large bag of marijuana she found in her house. "She brought the bag to me at the church and told me a family member was apparently involved in drugs. She wanted it off the streets," Fairley said Tuesday. Fairley said he called Hattiesburg Police Chief David Wynn who sent an officer to remove the drugs. "Five or six days later, two men with the Drug Enforcement Agency came to the church seeking to know the identity of the woman," he said. "They told me that I needed to tell them or I could face obstruction of justice charges. I told them I did not appreciate threats and asked them to leave." A spokesman with the Gulfport office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the office closest to Hattiesburg, could not be reached for comment. In a hastily called press conference Tuesday morning, Wynn reported that 60 pounds of marijuana in brick form was taken from the church property after Fairley's call. As in other cases when a large amount of drugs are found, the DEA was called in to investigate, said Hattiesburg narcotics agent Matt Adams, who helped remove the marijuana from the church property. Adams said the marijuana is in the Forrest-Perry Metro Narcotics Task Force storage locker. The Feb. 24 incident was not made public at the time because it was an ongoing investigation, Wynn said. Both Adams and Wynn said they questioned Fairley on the source of the drugs. "I personally tried to get him to tell me who it was," Wynn said. "Our officers tried. He would not reveal that information to me." Fairley said he is surprised at the attitude of law enforcement officers. "I would think they would have been glad to get these drugs off the streets," Fairley said. University of Southern Mississippi religion professor Dan Capper said ministers should have the same rights not to speak as lawyers and others do. "If pastors have to be tattletales, then people are not going to trust them anymore," Capper said. "It's the same privilege that lawyers and clients or therapists and clients would have." But Hattiesburg attorney Michael Adelman said while the rules of evidence in both state and federal laws establish privileges between lawyers and psychologists and their clients, husbands and wives, and the clergy and their parishioners, each case has to be decided on an individual basis. "There is a privilege, but whether a member of the clergy would be required to talk depends on the case," Adelman said. Fairley said he will not reveal the identity of the parishioner. "On a daily basis, people come and talk about their problems and my response is to listen, pray and help them work through them," Fairley said. "I would lose credibility with my parishioners, the community and those who seek advice from me if I violated the confidences they share with me." Fairley said he's not heard from the DEA again. "They (DEA) told me she may be in danger and I told them I would share their comments with her, give her their names and encourage her to call them," Fairley said. "But that's all I can do. I've never broken a confidence before and I'm not going to do it now." Wynn said the investigation by his office was an independent inquiry and did not involve Mayor Johnny DuPree, who is a member of Mount Carmel. "The mayor was made aware of it but has not tried to influence this in any form or fashion," Wynn said. "He said, 'You're the police chief. Handle this like you would anything else.'" Wynn said that's what he did. 
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on April 02, 2003 at 17:39:20 PT
Proof of Impairment?
Souldn't they first have to prove that cannabis impairs one's driving ability? Everyone I know who smokes has a very good driving record...I would say better than the average driver. Does this mean that the police should issue tickets to motorists for NOT being under the influence of cannabis?The way out is the way in...MUST READ STATEMENT OF 9/11 WIDOW TO 9/11 COMMISSION: 
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=30677Group Pledges to Monitor 9/11 Government Commission: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0304/S00027.htmTop 11 Questions/Talking Points For 9/11 Commission: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0303/S00255.htmWho Gave The Green Light For 9/11?
http://www.willthomas.net/911part1.htmSeptember 11: Guilt in High Places:
http://emperors-clothes.com/indict/911page1&2.htm9/11 Prior Knowledge/Government Involvement Archive:
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http://alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=15541
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Comment #1 posted by ekim on April 02, 2003 at 16:53:23 PT
how do these tests get done
i remember back when Ann Arbor was being challanged to get rid of its ticket law for cannabis a hearing was held in Lansing. Where the state police ran a film of a guy being filmed by two officers in what looked like a cell in jail somewhere in CA. the one officer had the camcoreder and the other was telling this guy to roll one and light up which he did. i did not know if this guy worked with the officers or if he was being held against his will or what. i was getting steamed seeing this guy having trouble with some of the tasks he was told to do like lifting a leg and doing other hand tests. than it was over. that film was used to show how one jay got this guy messed up. i gess the bill that was written to get rid of the matching funds for the city of Ann Arbor did not work because they still have the law. have anyone read of any tests and how they did them -- the NV lawmakers surly must have seen something no.
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