California proposes "Driving While High" law that bans "any detectable amount" of THC in the blood.
It doesn't even matter if you appear "impaired", you could be found guilty!
These people have no idea how cannabis works.
Californians: Help stop this law with this letter to your Assemblyman:http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51046/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13371
An annual gathering of thousands of California Democrats culminated with the unanimous decision to make marijuana legalization a platform issue. The shift came after hearing Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom speak on the issue, and in contrast to the views of Gov. Jerry Brown, shared in a recent “Meet the Press” interview. The shift also comes as some lawmakers are pushing for a strict and misdirected “driving while high” bill, that could serve to lock up people who aren’t even impaired.The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is campaigning against the “drugged driving” proposal, as they say it could send completely sober people to jail.
Assembly Bill 2500 proposes ‘per se’ criminal penalties to anyone caught with “any detectable amount”, even trace amounts of THC or any other drug in their body, whether or not they show signs of impairment.
As NORML explains, THC can remain in the body for days and even weeks after consumption, long after the effects are gone. Even the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cautions against making drugged driving laws based on THC levels:
“It is difficult to establish a relationship between a person’s THC blood or plasma concentration and performance impairing effects. … It is inadvisable to try and predict effects based on blood THC concentrations alone.”
The law would be similar to how per se drunk driving laws work, where having .08% blood alcohol content is essentially proof of guilt. Except alcohol dissipates when a person is no longer impaired.The proposed law is based in unscientific information and is more of a reaction of anti-pot lawmakers to exhibit some semblance of control in a state where the majority want marijuana legalized completely.Their lessening grip on the War on Marijuana was evident at the recent annual Democratic convention in San Francisco. There, Lt. Gov. Newsom made the case for legalization.“It’s time for all of us to step up and step in and lead once again in California, just as we did in 1996. We did just that with medical marijuana,” said Newsom to the some 3,000 gathered Democrats. “But for almost 20 years now, we’ve sat back admiring our accomplishment while the world, the nation, and states like Colorado and Washington have passed us by. … It’s time to legalize, it’s time to tax, it’s time to regulate marijuana for adults in California.”
Parts of his speech seem squarely directed at Gov. Brown.“This is not a debate about hippies. This is not a debate about stoners,” he said. “We can’t diminish this issue or the people involved in this debate by belittling them and trivializing them. Let me be clear. You can be pro-regulation without being an advocate for drug use.”
Just a week prior, Gov. Brown was a guest on “Meet the Press” where he voiced his concerns over pot legalization and lumping marijuana advocates together as confused stoners, as so many opponents tend to do.
“The problem with anything, a certain amount is okay,” Brown said. “But there is a tendency to go to extremes. And all of a sudden, if there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation? The world’s pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together.”
It’s obvious there are still people in power in California who want to hold on to the current marijuana laws or even turn back many of those that allow for patients to freely access their medicinal marijuana. But the tides are shifting and it’s beginning to look like legalization is only a matter of time.
