Last October, dispensaries in Vermont opened their doors to allow any adult with the need, medical or otherwise, to buy marijuana. In the months since, State Police have responded to 60 DUI calls where cannabis was “involved.”
Cannabis sales are ahead of expectations in Vermont, but smoking weed behind the wheel continues to be a concern.
Unlike some other states, Vermont does not have a legal, quantifiable amount of cannabis in your body that permits you to drive or conversely guarantees you a DUI in the same way that there are BAC rules for alcohol.
Vermont has again put the cart before the horse, and it is filled with Twinkies, so a few points. There are states with blood test limits, but there is no practical roadside test for a level of influence. We also lack a scientific standard that accurately balances use with impairment. They don’t correlate, not precisely. If the goal is to keep compromised drivers off the road, blood tests might not be the droid you’re looking for.
Back in ancient internet history, circa 2016, the president of AAA noted that,
There is understandably a strong desire by both lawmakers and the public to create legal limits for marijuana impairment in the same manner we do alcohol. In the case of marijuana this approach is flawed and not supported by scientific research.
I’m not sure how The American Automobile Association feels about that today, but it’s not a new problem, and increased access and use have made it more common. What is a legislature obsessed with either appearing to care about public safety or, more likely, one with a strong enough authoritarian tick to run with it as an excuse to impose more controls?
Mandate munchies or remote munchies.
I’d bet a bailout to Ukraine that many of these calls for impaired drivers are folks searching the wilds of modern America for convenience stores or grocery stores—quick story. Many years ago, I worked at a McDonald’s on a road that ran out of a city with a large concert venue. Depending on the attraction, people would show up craving food on certain nights—people who looked and smelled stoned. And there’s a test for that.
Have you heard of upselling? The old, would you like an apple pie with that? How about, would you like a 20-piece McNugget with that?
They’ll say yes to both and then some. Munchies are a powerful force. And while I’m joking, you’d go a long way toward your goal if you could find a way to get people to buy that crap while they were out buying their cannabis. And that’s not as easy as it sounds. While once stoned, some folks will eat anything, in many cases, there are specific cravings that cannot be appeased without a certain something.
In other words, there is almost nothing a legislature can do once it has decided to milk legal weed for revenue except what it should do. Nothing. You have laws for impaired and distracted driving. There are consequences for incidents and accidents. Invest a little in education and hope for the best.
And maybe, suggest to State Troopers that as a possible roadside test for the cannabis-impaired, they ask if they’d like some McNuggets.
