By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
The standard for which Marijuana Impairment presumptive levels in DUI prosecutions are likely to be under scrutiny due to what some are regarding as unproven scientific evidence. Presumptive impairment levels for THC concentration in blood samples might not satisfy legal requirements from an actual driving impairment perspective. They could in-fact be regarded arbitrary and not scientifically supported.
States do have the legal authority to establish presumptive impairment levels, that is a measurable quantity of a substance sufficient to establish an element of DUI. In fact while the present presumptive alcohol level in the United States for ordinary drivers is .08, states have established .04 for commercial vehicle driving and some states have .02 for those under twenty one years of age who violate analog status offenses that do not define impairment as an element.
Now, the American Automobile Association’s Foundation for Traffic Safety cited a study that differences between individuals can be wide and greatly varied regarding impairment at a set blood THC level. While some drivers show obvious signs of impairment at low levels of THC blood concentration, other persons can have greatly elevated readings and show no outward appearance of signs of DUI.