BUZZING OVER THE DEATH OF THE STONED DRIVING BILL

Mixed Reaction to Senate's Decision to Kill Measure That Targeted
Stoned Driving

Both the medical marijuana community and the Colorado Attorney General
yesterday were buzzing about the legislature's decision to a kill a
measure that would have set a limit for how much marijuana a person
could have in their system while driving.

The Colorado Senate Monday evening surprised many people by killing
House Bill 1261 on a voice vote. The bill would have allowed a person
who drove with a tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) the psychoactive
substance found in marijuana content of five nanograms or more in
their blood to be charged with a DUI per se.

Critics of the bill argued that frequent marijuana users could have
more than five nanograms of THC in their blood even if they weren't
under the influence of marijuana when they were pulled over. They
pointed out that there is no nanogram limit for oxycontin or other
drugs that may impair drivers and that medical marijuana patients are
"once again treated like second-class citizens for their choice of
medicine."

"This is a huge victory for patients, who fought to uphold their
rights with hundreds of letters and phone calls," said a statement
from Laura Kriho, spokeswoman for the Cannabis Therapy Institute,
which heavily opposed HB 1261.

However, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers blasted the Senate's
decision to kill HB 1261. He argued that there are 125,000 people
registered to use medical marijuana in the state and that he has seen
the damages that can be done by people driving under the influence of
drugs or alcohol.

"The fact that some senators were succumbing to pressure from the
marijuana industry while others may have been concerned the per-se
limit was too high is no excuse for complete inaction on such a
critical public safety issue," he said in a statement. "This is yet
another public policy failure by the General Assembly to enact
appropriate marijuana policies in Colorado."

HB 1261 easily passed out of the House before enduring a bumpy road in
the Senate. After being delayed in a Senate committee, lawmakers
Monday voted against setting a nanogram limit before killing the
watered down version of the bill.