Relaxed DC Pot Law: AAA Fears Uptick in 'Marijuana-Related Traffic Injuries and Deaths'

As long anticipated, the District Council just gave its final nod of approval this afternoon to a controversial bill that decriminalizes the possession of small quantities of marijuana within the nation’s capital.  

Now that the law has garnered final passage, some traffic safety advocates, including AAA Mid-Atlantic, fear an uptick in “marijuana-related traffic injuries and deaths," according to a news release from AAA.

AAA Mid-Atlantic is warning that driving under the influence of marijuana, like driving under the influence of alcohol, can be dangerous. Driving under the influence of pot can impair a driver’s motor skills, reaction time and judgment, research shows. 

The measure, “The Simple Possession of Small Quantities of Marijuana Decriminalization Amendment Act of 2013” (Bill 20-49), reduces the penalty of possession of an ounce or less of marijuana to a civil fine of $25 for possession and $100 for public consumption. However, the penalty carries neither arrest nor criminal record. In contrast, under current law, possession of any amount of pot is a criminal misdemeanour.  It carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a maximum fine of $1,000.

“However, the measure does not lessen the legal risks for drivers caught in flagrante dēlictō while driving impaired by alcohol or drug in the city,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “The consequences remain harsh and the penalties will remain severe for even first-time driving under the influence offenders, and repeat offenders will still face mandatory minimum sentences, if pulled over by the police.”

Despite passage of the historic pot decriminalization bill, AAA Mid-Atlantic concedes there is a “great deal of debate on how much marijuana a person needs to inhale or ingest before he or she is impaired.” However, this much is certain:  “the known effects” of marijuana, and its most active ingredient, THC, include “altered consciousness, perceptual distortions, drowsiness, impaired memory and impaired coordination,” explains the auto club. “Each of these effects has the potential to impair your ability to drive,” the highway safety advocates warn.

“Impaired driving, whether stemming from alcohol use or non-alcoholic drug use, puts all of us at risk: it is as simple as that,” said Townsend. “Impaired driving also carries a high price tag, as increased crash rates lead to higher medical and auto insurance rates.”

Also raising alarms, fatal crashes involving marijuana or weed use has tripled during the past decade, new research shows. That’s according to a recent study conducted by Columbia University published just two months ago in the latest edition of the prestigious American Journal of Epidemiology.

Reportedly, researchers at Columbia University found marijuana “was detected in the bodies of dead drivers three times more than during 2010, when compared to those who died behind the wheel in 2009.” In those fatal crashes, after alcohol use, the study found that pot was “the most common non-alcoholic drug detected by those toxicology screenings.” Those toxicological tests were conducted on crash victims in six states, including nearby West Virginia and in California, Hawaii, Illinois, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Earlier studies also found that “after alcohol, THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana, is the substance most commonly found in the blood of impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims.” Now that’s according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIH). “Studies in several localities have found that approximately 4 to 14 percent of drivers who sustained injury or died in traffic accidents tested positive for THC,” the NIH found.

Despite the passage of Council Bill 20-49, which carries no arrest or criminal records for the possession of a small amount of pot, operating a motor vehicle while impaired by a drug, chemical substance, or any prescription or non-prescription medication will still be illegal in the District of Columbia, warns AAA Mid-Atlantic. 

At the end of the day, impaired driving laws will remain unchanged in the District, despite the passage of the marijuana decriminalization amendment, advises AAA Mid-Atlantic. That means District police (the Metropolitan Police Department) and nearly two dozen other law enforcement agencies operating in the city can still pull over and arrest impaired drivers under probable cause. 

Although there is no breath test for detecting the presence of marijuana in the blood, police in the District can still test for the drug through a blood or urine test. Two years ago, the District enacted emergency legislation, the Comprehensive Impaired Driving Actof 2012 that mandated tougher penalties for first-time drunk drivers. The tougher law throws the book  at drivers who test tested positive for THC by proscribing harsh penalties for operating a motor vehicle while impaired  due to the “consumption of alcohol or a drug, or the combination thereof, in a way that can be perceived or noticed.”

Drugged driving, like getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol, puts at “risk not only the drivers but also passengers and others who share the road,” the NIH warns.  Even so, according to the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), “an estimated 10.3 million people aged 12 or older (or 3.9 percent of adolescents and adults) reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs during the year prior to being surveyed.”