COLORADO SENATE SNUFFS OUT BILL THAT WOULD SET POT LIMITS ON DRIVERS

Colorado Senate snuffs out bill that would set pot limits on drivers A
proposal at the state Capitol to set a limit for how stoned is too
stoned to drive died Monday night in the Senate.

In a crucial vote, lawmakers rejected a hard cap on the amount of THC
- - the psychoactive chemical in marijuana - that drivers could have in
their systems above which they would be presumed too high to drive.
Instead, a divided Senate sided with medical-marijuana advocates, who
urged more study of the proposal.

"We are being asked to make policy by anecdote," Sen. Shawn Mitchell,
R-Broomfield, said in arguing for extra research. ". . . Policy should
be well-considered."

With the teeth of the proposal removed, the Senate later voted to kill
the bill, a decision that withstood a subsequent procedural challenge
20-15.

Sen. Steve King, a Grand Junction Republican who was one of House Bill
1261's sponsors, said failing to set a THC limit would have real
consequences. He cited instances of fatal accidents in which the
at-fault drivers tested positive for THC.

"Lives are at risk here," he said.

But Mitchell said some of those drivers had THC levels below the
proposed limit - 5 nanograms per milliliter of blood. Echoing the
concerns of a number of lawmakers, Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, said
she thinks the research is inconclusive about how much THC
definitively causes impairment, meaning a 5-nanogram limit might snare
sober drivers while allowing stoned ones to go free.

It will still be illegal to drive while impaired by marijuana in
Colorado, Carroll said. The bill would have made it easier for
prosecutors to prove a driver's guilt.

"If you're going to have a shortcut to presuming somebody is impaired,
let's make sure the science is established," Carroll said.

Other lawmakers attacked the bill by arguing that any amount of THC in
drivers is too much.

King responded that the 5-nanogram limit is supported by a number of
studies and was vetted by multiple groups. He also called out the
medical-marijuana industry for lobbying against the bill while, he
said, not working as hard to discourage stoned driving.

"Why have we never seen them run an ad that says, 'Friends don't let
friends drive high'?" King asked.

Before running aground in the Senate, the THC limit had a relatively
easy time in the House, passing 51-14.