Colorado Attorney General John Suthers today blasted state lawmakers over the death of a bill that would have made it easier for prosecutors to punish stoned drivers.
Calling the bill’s death “dumbfounding,” Suthers said it is an example of what he described as a lax leadership surrounding marijuana in the state.
“This is yet another public policy failure by the General Assembly to enact appropriate marijuana policies in Colorado,” Suthers said in a statement released through his spokesman.
After a see-saw debate, the state Senate voted Monday night to kill the bill, which would have set a limit of how much of the psychoactive component of marijuana drivers could have in their systems. The level — known in legal lingo as a per se limit and similar to the .08 blood-alcohol limit — would mean that drivers who test positive above that amount would automatically be presumed to be too impaired to drive, streamlining stoned driving cases.
It is currently against the law to drive high, but prosecutors must establish impairment in each case.
Bill supporters said the limit was necessary to crack down on what they said was a growing problem of stoned driving. The state Health Department this year has already received for testing about the same number of blood samples from suspected stoned drivers as it did all of last year.
But opponents of the bill worried that the proposed limit — 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood — would be too low and snag sober drivers along with high ones. They argued that research on the matter was not settled, echoing the concerns of medical-marijuana advocates.
“This is a huge victory for patients, who fought to uphold their rights with hundreds of letters and phone calls,” Laura Kriho, a spokesperson for the pro-marijuana Cannabis Therapy Institute, said in a statement.
Other lawmakers questioned whether the limit would implicitly create a “safe” amount of THC drivers could have in their systems even if they are impaired. For instance, during Monday’s debate, one of the bill’s sponsors cited three serious crashes where marijuana impairment was suspected. In two of those crashes, though, the THC level was below the proposed limit.
Bill supporters said they hoped the proposal will receive further study and come back next year with more evidence to support it.
Suthers said in his statement that lawmakers had no excuse for “complete inaction.”
“I have seen the damage people driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol can inflict,” Suthers said in his statement. “The Senate’s vote yesterday exhibited not only a lack of concern for the safety of Colorado drivers and pedestrians, but also an inability to lead.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com.
