“Maine bill brings OUI test for marijuana” appeared in the May 12 print edition of the Sun Journal. In the story, the following paragraph appeared:
“The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says that one in nine operators involved in fatal crashes across the nation will test positive for marijuana,” York police Chief Doug Bracy wrote in testimony to the committee. “Their statistics reveal that marijuana-related fatalities have tripled in America in the last decade.”
Those quotes are an example of the use of statistics for one’s suited purpose.
If the entire adult population were sampled, one in nine would probably test positive for at least residual marijuana, though none of them would have needed to be “high” at the time to have the THC in the bloodstream. The only thing the previous quote proves is that the number of citizens with residual THC has tripled.
Simply put, THC in the bloodstream, even concentrated levels, does not prove any intoxication. The presence of THC could well be from a prior experience. THC remains strong enough in the bloodstream for 20 to 40 days (depending on one’s body composition and personal dietary habits) to flunk any employment/military THC screening test.
Seasoned medical marijuana smokers will fail the blood test but still be lucid, functional, fully aware and sober. They will pass any sobriety test based on driving ability.
There seems to be a deep lack of understanding of medical marijuana at many levels of governance, yet the government has a strong desire to control it. Government officials should focus on furnishing the public with truth, not fear. It’s time for Maine to develop a clearinghouse of medical marijuana facts versus fiction and use it for better laws.
Why the witch hunt? Where is the pursuit of the opiated driver, or any other pharmaceutically-altered citizen? In those cases, like with alcohol, concentrated levels accurately imply impairment.
Bad driving, whether due to fatigue, distractions or poor skills, needs to be reined in, for sure.
Making a Maine citizen into a “drunk driver” just because of THC levels in one’s blood is truly bad science and horrible governance.
My god, it’s not alcohol.
Get it right, Maine.
Mike Woodworth, Auburn
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