Title:
Colo.: Ask your representative to amend SB 117
Message:
Earlier this week, SB 117 — introduced by Sen. Steve King — passed out of the Senate unamended and now moves to consideration by the House. This bill would declare anyone with five nanograms of THC per milliliter of their whole blood guilty of driving under the influence — even if the person could prove he or she was actually not impaired! Please email your representative and ask him or her to offer floor amendments to allow drivers to prove their innocence and to create a medical marijuana patient exemption.
Although intoxicated driving should not be tolerated, knee jerk ideas like per se limits lacking agreement among the scientific community are unethical and unnecessary. One Westword medical marijuana reviewer had nearly three times the proposed limit 15 hours after he last used marijuana, though his physician found he was “in no way incapacitated” at the time!
Unfortunately, a similar proposal passed the House in a 51-14 vote last year. Please email your representative and ask that this THC count only be used as a presumption of being impaired, not a per se limit, and also ask that medical marijuana patients be exempted from this law.
