The first-ever breathalyzer to test for marijuana use is rolling out to California police departments, so you might want to start driving very carefully on any late-night snack runs. The new technology is currently in a field testing stage while police departments around the state try out the device. Depending on the accuracy of the data gathered during the testing, it’s likely to become a staple of roadside sobriety checks in the near future.
Developed by Oakland-based Hound Labs with additional research conducted at the University of California, CBS Los Angeles reports that the breathalyzers started hitting the streets earlier this week.
Because of marijuana’s semi-legal status in California, law enforcement officials have been quick to point out that they are not planning to use the technology to catch safe pot-users, just to keep drivers who might be dangerously intoxicated off the roads.
“We are looking for the least invasive way to obtain information that indicates impairment,” Lompoc police chief Patrick Walsh told CBS about his department’s field testing of the devices. “We don’t want to arrest people who are not impaired, and yet we don’t want marijuana users driving if they are high from recent use.”
The machines work by detecting THC on the subject’s breath. Currently, law enforcement tests for marijuana use with saliva, urine and blood samples. Those tests are more complicated to administer and can show positive results for the presence of drugs taken even days prior; the breathalyzers are more targeted just to recent use.
Regardless of how you're being tested, if you're considering driving while high, maybe you should just take Metro instead.
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