Guilty of a Nanogram Level Next year, lawmakers will have a chance to push for an anti-patient DUI bill

Every one of you reading this column who medicate with cannabis just dodged a bullet. Dodged a big fat bullet two years in a row no less. I have no idea how we as a state could have been so lucky. They—by “they” I mean some state representatives and state senators—were really gunning for us. They want to be able to let law enforcement prosecute us because we medicate. That is it. Law enforcement is not even pretending to base prosecution on impairment or drivers under the influence of marijuana, they want to prosecute us for Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Per Se if we have 5 nanograms of THC in our system. They don’t want to make our streets safer from impaired drivers, but instead to be able to use a nanogram number as the deciding factor in convicting someone. Respected people in the scientific community differ on which nanogram level a person is impaired by THC. Many acknowledge that chronic users (patients who use daily) often carry around a nanogram level in excess of the 5 nanograms which is being touted as the impairing level.

Legislators will be back next year to pass this nanogram bill. They believe they are entitled to a 5-nanogram level and are coming back in 2013 to pass this, or a more harsh version of this bill. They will work all summer, too, getting ready.

We will not be so lucky a third time. Third time’s a charm. Now is the time to send me your e-mail. Join me in networking across the state to insure your voices are heard. Join me in networking across the state to insure our legislators are educated as to what the scientific community says about a nanogram level for THC, not just what the government alleges. We need to connect with legislators in your community, legislator by legislator, to make sure they know your story as someone who medicates and votes. We need to work together to insure that people do not drive impaired by THC and educate patients on how to avoid crossing the line between mediating and driving impaired. No one wants impaired drivers on the road and no one wants to be prosecuted just because they have a THC level in their system.

During this last session a lobbyist told me that the biggest problem among the medical marijuana community is its lack of a unified force.

Contact me at DUIDColorado@gmail.com. Make a difference. Don’t wait until the government passes a law that is harmful to patients. We can make a difference now and educate our own community, and educate our legislators on sound scientific data. I will travel to each center I am invited to and set up a system to work with your legislators and give legal tips on insuring the safest ways to medicate and drive. Tell your center to call me to come by and work with you.

Ann Toney, P.C. is a Denver-based law firm that focuses on medical marijuana business law and marijuana defense; and defending people charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (DUI/DUID). Ann Toney can be contacted via phone or web at (303) 399-5556 and www.anntoneylaw.com.