NEW DRUGGED-DRIVING LAW IS IMPROVEMENT

Ohio's new drugged-driving law is more nuanced, particularly as it
pertains to marijuana, than indicated in the Aug. 17 Dispatch article
"Law quantifies drugged driving levels." Defense lawyers should take
note.

Prior to Aug. 17, Ohio had a virtual zero-tolerance law on drugged
driving. The State Highway Patrol has acknowledged that any trace
amount of marijuana or its metabolites, a byproduct of smoking that
can stay in the body for several days, found by a simple roadside
urine test could be the basis for a conviction. The patrol has claimed
that it achieved 2,500-3,000 convictions in Ohio on that basis in
2004. Few defendants can afford a lawyer and a toxicologist to mount a
successful defense.

Under the new law for marijuana, not only are specific limits set, the
concentration of metabolites must be measured by gas chromatography
mass spectrometry, the most accurate testing method now available.

Reasonable people may disagree with the limits set. There is no
agreement in the scientific community as to the level of marijuana at
which impairment occurs because it affects each individual differently
and some individuals differently at different times.

Given the present conservative state administration and a majority of
like-minded legislators, some drugged-driving bill was going to pass.
Thoughtful consideration by a number of representatives has improved
what would have been a total zero-tolerance bill sought by some proponents.

EDWARD J. ORLETT

Ohio representative

Drug Policy Alliance

Columbus