SENSIBLE LIMIT FOR SMOKING, DRIVING

Lawmakers should take another run at setting a fair standard for
marijuana in Colorado drivers' systems. The Colorado legislature is
expected to consider the issue of driving while stoned again this
year, and this time we hope lawmakers don't allow the medical
marijuana lobby to blow smoke in their eyes.

Last year's show was embarrassing to watch, and lawmakers' lack of
action constituted a failure to protect the public.

Sen. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, said he is leaning toward
proposing a zero-tolerance bill. That is to say, if drivers are found
to have in their systems any amount of THC, the psychoactive
substance in marijuana, they'd be busted. While a dozen other states
have such zero-tolerance measures, we think that's too harsh.

King, who has been in law enforcement for three decades, has good
intentions. He is trying to protect the public after so frequently
seeing the death and destruction caused by impaired driving.

However, we would rather see lawmakers take another run at the 5
nanogram limit that was supported last year by a diverse group
including defense lawyers, prosecutors and medical marijuana interests.

Study after study has shown marijuana use causes driving impairment.
This time around, we hope state lawmakers don't listen to the fervent
marijuana users who say they drive perfectly fine - even better -
when they're high. Maybe they think they do, but they don't. The rest
of the driving public should not be endangered to indulge their
stoner fantasies.

The perfectly reasonable 5 nanogram proposal was vetted by the
Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.

During the group's deliberations, a state toxicologist told a
commission task force that the best research shows impairment is
detected at the 2 nanogram level.

So what happened when Colorado's 5 nanogram bill got to the
legislature last year? The House passed it. By the time it got to the
Senate, the marijuana lobbyists had come out in force.

They pushed the idea of "relative highness," in which they said some
people drive just fine with 5 nanograms of THC in their systems. They
also called the research "inconclusive," which is certainly one way
to inject doubt into an argument you don't agree with.

The bill died. Score one for the marijuana lobby, which is becoming a
big-money force to be reckoned with.

That's a shame, because statistics collected by people who do not
have a financial stake in marijuana use show the danger of drugged driving.

According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, the number of
drivers involved in fatal crashes who had tested positive for
marijuana increased from 37 in 2009 to 42 in 2010. For sake of
comparison, the number of drivers involved in fatal crashes who
tested positive for alcohol dropped during the same time frame, from
138 to 112.

State lawmakers have the chance to address the driving-while-high
problem by passing a reasonable bill. We hope they do so.