RULING COURTS STONED DRIVERS

Being baked in potato country may not prohibit stoners from driving, but
such a legal loophole would never fly in Canada, say legal experts.

Marijuana users can drive legally in Idaho as long as their driving isn't
erratic and they can pass a field sobriety test, a federal appeals court
ruled Monday.

The three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals wrote that while it is illegal to drive under the influence of
alcohol or narcotics, Idaho law doesn't list marijuana as a narcotic.

The ruling overturned an impaired driving conviction against Matthew
Patzer, 21, who was stopped for a broken tailgate light in 1998 and
admitted to police he'd smoked marijuana at a party.

The appeals court said Patzer could not automatically be presumed impaired;
he wasn't driving erratically and passed two field sobriety tests.