Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/678441
ByJoanLowy TheAssociatedPress WASHINGTON Motor- ists are being convicted of driving under the influence of marijuana based on ar- bitrary state standards that have no connection to whether the driver was actually impaired, says a study by the nation's larg- est auto club. Theproblemisonlygrow- ing as more states contem- plate legalizing the drug. At least three, and possibly as many as 11 states, will vote this fall on ballot measures to legalize marijuana for medicinal or recreational use, or both. Legislation to legalize the drug has also been introduced in a half dozen states. Currently, six states — Colorado, Montana, Ne- vada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington — have set specific limits for THC, the chemical in marijuana that makes people high, in driv- ers' blood. Marijuana use is legal in those states for ei- ther recreational or medic- inal purposes, with the ex- ception of Ohio. The laws presume a driver whose THC level exceeds the threshold is impaired. But the study by AAA's safety foundation says the limits have no scientific basis and can result in innocent driv- ers being convicted, and in guilty drivers being re- leased. "There is understandably a strong desire by both law- makers and the public to create legal limits for mar- ijuana impairment in the same manner we do alco- hol," said Marshall Doney, AAA's president and CEO. "In the case of marijuana, this approach is flawed and not supported by scientific research." Another nine states, in- cluding some that have le- galized marijuana for med- ical use, have zero-tolerance laws for driving and mar- ijuana that make not only any presence of THC in a driver's blood illegal, but also the presence of its me- tabolites, which can linger in a driver's bloodstream for weeks after any impair- ment has dissipated. That makes no sense, said Mark A. R. Kleiman, a New York University profes- sor specializing in issues in- volving drugs and criminal policy. "A law against driv- ing with THC in your blood- stream is not a law you can know you are obeying ex- cept by never smoking mar- ijuana or never driving," he said. The problem is that de- termining whether some- one is impaired by mari- juana, as opposed to having merely used the drug, is far more complex than the sim- ple and reliable tests that have been developed for al- cohol impairment. The degree to which a driver is impaired by mari- juana use depends a lot on the individual, the founda- tion said. Drivers with rela- tively high levels of THC in their systems might not be impaired, especially if they are regular users, while oth- ers with relatively low lev- els may be unsafe behind the wheel. Some drivers may be impaired when they are stopped by police, but by the time their blood is tested they have fallen be- low the legal threshold be- cause active THC dissi- pates rapidly. The average time to collect blood from a suspected driver is often more than two hours be- cause taking a blood sam- ple typically requires a war- rant and transport to a po- lice station or hospital, the foundation said. In addition, frequent marijuana users can exhibit persistent levels of the drug long after use, while THC levels can decline more rapidly among occasional users. Colorado's 5-nanogram limit for THC in blood "was picked out of thin air by pol- iticians," said Robert Corry, a Denver criminal defense attorney. "Innocent people are convicted of DUI be- cause of this." Melanie Brinegar, who uses marijuana every day to control back pain, was stopped by police two years ago for having an ex- pired license plate. The of- ficer smelled marijuana and Brinegar acknowledged she had used the drug earlier in the day. Her blood test showed a level of 19 nano- grams, well over the state limit. She was arrested and charged with driving while impaired. Brinegar, 30, who lives in Denver, said she spent the next 13 months working 80 to 90 hours a week to pay for a lawyer to help her fight the charge and eventually was acquitted. People like herself will always test pos- itive for THC whether they are high or not because of their frequent use, she said. "It took a good amount of my time and my life," she said. "There is still that worry if I get pulled over (again)." Studies show that using marijuana and driv- ing roughly doubles the risk of a crash, Kleiman said. By comparison, talk- ing on a hands-free cell- phone while driving — le- gal in all states — quadru- ples crash risk, he said. A blood alcohol content of .12, which is about the median amount in drunken driving cases, increases crash risk by about 15 times, he said. Driving with "a noisy child in the back of the car" is about as dangerous as us- ing marijuana and driving, Kleiman said. The exception is when a driver has both been using marijuana and drinking al- cohol because the two sub- stances together greatly heighten impairment, he said. IMPAIRMENT Sc ie nt ifi c ba si s fo r la ws o n ma ri ju an a, d ri vi ng q ue st io ne d JOSELUISMAGANA‑THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE A demonstrator waves a flag with marijuana leaves on it during a protest calling for the legalization of marijuana, outside of the White House in Washington, D.C. By David Crary The Associated Press There was a showdown in Houston last fall. This spring, North Carolina be- came the battleground. By now, confrontations have flared across the country over whether to protect or curtail the right of transgen- der people to use public re- strooms in accordance with their gender identity. The upshot, in virtually every case, has been emo- tional debate over privacy, personal safety and preju- dice. Many of those who fa- vor limiting transgender rights contend that expand- ing anti-bias protections to bathroomsandlockerrooms raisestheriskofsexualpred- ators exploiting the laws to molest women and girls on those premises. Transgender-rights ad- vocates consider this argu- ment malicious and false. They say that 18 states and scores of cities have expe- rienced no significant pub- lic safety problems linked to their existing laws allow- ing transgender people to use bathrooms based on the gender they consider them- selves to be. On Monday, the U.S. Jus- tice Department weighed in, suingtooverturnNorthCar- olina's new law restricting transgender bathroom ac- cess and warning that any similar measures elsewhere in the country could also face challenges on grounds they violate federal nondis- crimination rules. North Carolina has sued to keep the law in place. Washington state is among the many jurisdic- tions with ongoing debate over bathroom access. Con- servative activists are gath- ering signatures with hopes of putting a measure on the November ballot that would override state and local pro- tectionsagainstgender-iden- tity discrimination in pub- lic accommodations and require public schools to re- strict transgender students' bathroom and locker room access. "Stand with us as we stand to protect women and children from this danger- ous rule," says a group push- ing the ballot measure, in its online appeal for volunteers and donations. The group is called Just Want Privacy, re- flectingtheviewthatopposi- tion to the laws goes beyond safety concerns for some. Among those supporting the current rules and op- posing the ballot initiative is John Lovick, former sher- iff of Snohomish County. "We've protected gay and transgender people from discrimination in Washing- ton for 10 years, with no in- crease in public safety inci- dents as a result," he said. "It's important to remember that indecent exposure, voy- eurism, and sexual assault, are already illegal, and po- lice use those laws to keep people safe." A current sheriff, John Urquhart of the Seattle ar- ea's King County, also de- fends the existing law. "I'm the father of two daughters. I'm not concerned," he says. On the other side of the country, similar arguments are percolating in Massa- chusetts, which — despite its liberal tendencies — is not among the states ban- ning discrimination against transgender people in rest- rooms and other public ac- commodations. A bill to do that is advanc- ing through the state legisla- ture this spring. The state's Republican governor, Char- lie Baker, has not commit- ted to signing the bill if it reaches his desk but has said heopposesdiscriminationin any form. To assuage critics who say malesexualpredators might take advantage of the pro- posed change by claiming to identify as female, language has been addedto the House version of the bill to allow legal action against anyone who makes an "improper" claim of gender identity. Some critics of the bill wereunimpressedbythead- dition, citing concerns about privacy. "It still offers no protec- tionstowomenandchildren who don't want to be eyed by or exposed to naked men in locker rooms or other inti- mate spaces," said Jonathan Alexandre, legal counsel for the Massachusetts Family Institute. In South Carolina, law- makers considered — but did not approve — a bill that would have required trans- gender people to use public bathroomsbasedontheirbi- ological sex. In opposing the bill, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said it addressed "a nonissue." Elsewhere, the bathroom debate has flared on the lo- cal level. In the Dallas sub- urbofRockwell,citycouncil- orsrejectedthemayor'spush to block transgender people from using the public bath- rooms of their choice. In Ox- ford,Alabama,thecitycoun- cil approved such a restric- tion, complete with criminal penalties, then repealed it a week later. CONTROVERSY Debate over transgender bathroom access spreads nationwide By Erica Werner and Steve Peoples The Associated Press WASHINGTON Key Senate Republicans voiced opti- mism Tuesday about Donald Trump's presidential pros- pects in November, signal- ing clearly to the GOP rank and file to unite behind the bombastic billionaire and turn their energy toward battling Democrat Hillary Clinton. But it was uncertain whether they could quiet the doubters. "We have a nomi- nee, it looks like he may well be very competitive, and we want to win the White House," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters. He also said, "We know that Hillary Clinton will be four more years of Barack Obama. I think that's going to in the end be enough to unify Re- publicans across the coun- try." The comments came as voters in West Virginia gave Trump yet another primary victory on Tuesday. Doubt and angst over Trump remained palpable as GOP lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill from a week- long recess that saw him ef- fectively clinch the presiden- tial nomination. For some, the question of whether they were backing their party's standard-bearer — a no- brainer in a normal election year — proved too much to answer. "We're not doing any Trump questions to- day," an aide to Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois told a crowd of reporters as Kirk, one of the most endangered Sen- ate Republicans, sped into a meeting. AnotherRepublicanwho's up for re-election, Tim Scott of South Carolina, offered his support, but like others managed to sound grudg- ing and backhanded in the process. "I'm supporting the Republican candidate, and it happens to be Don- ald Trump," he said. 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