IDAHO OKS MARIJUANA WITH DRIVING

In Idaho, you can drive high as long as you can drive straight.

Marijuana users can drive legally in the state 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.

"Given the distinction drawn by the statute, there is no basis to
conclude that impairment may be presumed upon admission of use of a
non-narcotic drug," the appeals court wrote.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Fica in Idaho said the government
may ask the court to review its decision or request that the U.S.
Supreme Court hear the case.

Idaho Senate Judiciary Chairman Denton Darrington said he had assumed
marijuana was a narcotic under state law, and that the statute might
need to be reviewed. But he questioned whether Monday's decision
would hold up on appeal.

The circuit's decision also reverses Patzer's illegal weapons convictions.

In his Chevrolet Blazer, police found four illegal homemade grenades,
a sawed-off shotgun and a modified rifle with a homemade silencer.
But the court said that because of his unlawful arrest, the search of
his vehicle was illegal.

The case is United States v. Patzer, 00-30360.