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Initiative 502 sets up a limit of five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. Any more than that and drivers could be prosecuted for DUI. (AP Photo)

Marijuana users worried I-502 sets legal limit too low

BY Kim Shepard  on November 5, 2012 @ 11:08 am (Updated: 11:50 am - 11/5/12 )

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Legalizing marijuana could affect more than just where users buy their drug of choice. It could seriously impact how those users are prosecuted for Driving Under the Influence of Drugs.

Initiative 502 sets up a limit of five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. Any more than that and drivers could be prosecuted. While they would face the same penalties currently in place, some say the threshold set by the new rules would be unfair.

"I'm a medical marijuana user. I wake up at 3 to 4 times the legal limits when I wake up in the morning and I guarantee you I'm not impaired," says Steve Sarich, spokesman for the No on I-502 campaign.

He worries the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana use in Washington state would result in the prosecution of medicinal users. While some users may be impaired at five nanograms, Sarich says he has built up a tolerance. He claims it takes a lot more of the drug to make him too affected to drive.

"At five nanograms I'm definitely not impaired," says Sarich, "It is such an individual thing."

While Sarich says studies are mixed on the effects of marijuana on driving ability, Forensic Toxicologist Dave Michaelson says it is clear to him. THC affects the hippocampus more than any other area of the body. Michaelson explains, that's the computer portion of the brain that controls reactions to outside stimulus.

"What happens is it starts affecting how fasts you can respond if a child jumps out into the road. Your ability to quickly slam on the brakes is going to be affected. It's going to take longer," says Michaelson.

With DUI laws applying to liquor on the books for decades, many drivers have become used to being able to measure their intoxication level and wait the appropriate time before getting behind the wheel.

One problem with marijuana, according to Michaelson, is that the math is not so easy.

Not only does THC add up in a person at different rates based on how frequently they've used the drug in the past, it also can dissipate at different rates. That's because alcohol is a water-soluble substance while THC is fat-soluble.

"If you spilled alcohol on your hands and washed them in the sink, that alcohol would be off in a matter of moments," Michaelson explains. "But if you spilled oil on your hands and you then put your hand under a water faucet, it takes a lot of time if you're not using soap to get that oil off your hands."

For daily users of marijuana whose fat cells are already saturated with THC, Michaelson says it can take weeks or even months for the drug to get below the five nanogram limit set under I-502. Even though the user may not currently feel high, he says the THC is still affecting their ability to drive safely.

"Even though the driver won't necessarily feel high," Michaelson says, "the actual effect of that THC will continue on them to a lesser degree."

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Kim Shepard, KIRO Radio Reporter
Kim Shepard is a news anchor and reporter for KIRO Radio and the office optimist. She's energetic, quick to laugh and has a positive outlook on life.
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Comments (38)


  • Add A Comment

  • 333 wrote...
    valid point
    November 5, 2012 10:49 am
    cuz no one could've landed that plan like me.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FrapFreak wrote...
    I could blow a 0.08...
    November 5, 2012 11:01 am
    ...and not be impaired. I think the lesson here is don't smoke and drive.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • froggy wrote...
    Well, here it is.
    November 5, 2012 11:25 am
    Now they want to drive while having the active ingredient in their system and stating that they build up a tolerance. Gee, does anyone remember the stoners from school? I wonder what kind of tolerance they have. Then they admit that the substance is lingering on in the fat tissues. Well, that's what creates the stoners. They are continually stoned as long as the substance is in their systems. So, yeah, legalize it. I am willing to bet that the incidence of rear end collisions and t-bone type of collisions goes up. The stoners just don't recognize red lights or brake lights so they either will run into you or run a red light. I could care less if people want to smoke dope. Just stay home until it is all out of your system. I still maintain that employers will start doing more drug testing. When they make defective products they get sued. They don't want anyone working for them with any drugs in their systems. Legalize marijuana and unemployment just may go up.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Sandydog5 wrote...
    funny
    November 5, 2012 12:31 pm
    @froggy: thx for my first big laugh of the day. You are clueless.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Highlander420 wrote...
    "Gee, does anyone remember the stoners from school?"
    November 5, 2012 1:18 pm
    Yep...we've been around in growing numbers since cars were invented and still do not represent a major highway risk all these decades later. Your reefer madness mythology only works with 20% of the population.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • LegaLizzy wrote...
    I semi-agree
    November 5, 2012 1:19 pm
    I agree that there should be strict penalties for driving under the influence of MJ. There should be strict penalties for driving under the influence of ANYTHING! This DUID section HAD to be put into the law, otherwise people would toke up while driving, and nobody would support it. That was a huge complaint with Prop19 - there were no penalties for driving under the influence. However, the rest of your views on legalization is laughable and typical for a prohibitionist. You need to lighten up. No pun intended.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • MmMerrifield wrote...
    well...
    November 5, 2012 4:11 pm
    from observing the people that I know who use cannabis for medical reasons, I would have to say that it takes much more medicine for them to get high(from seeing them not be able to take one puff to needing a much larger amount), but without a lab analysis I don't really know what is going on in their blood.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • smoke wrote...
    Good news
    November 5, 2012 11:44 am
    The good news is that a company in Israel has developed a strain of marijuana that has all the medicinal properties but without THC. So as soon as it's accepted in the U.S. you will be able to light up without getting high. Problem solved.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • 333 wrote...
    smoke
    November 5, 2012 12:18 pm
    are you trying to be funny? I think this is the same company that invented an adult drink that doesn't get you drunk..it's called soda. This is no longer about medical benefits, it's about rights.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • LegaLizzy wrote...
    Steve Sarich - head of MMJ, would lose money over i-502 passing
    November 5, 2012 12:35 pm
    Don't listen to this Steve Sarich buster. He's the head of an MMJ support group who would rather keep MJ illegal so MMJ can prosper and remain as profitable as possible. Basic business logic. This law does NOT look for inactive THC cells, it looks for active THC via blood tests. Active THC lasts for a couple of hours. The cops have to pull you over, determine that you're intoxicated, you have to fail a sobriety test, get taken to the hospital, and THEN given a blood test. A lot of time and resources they'd likely not want to deal with! Drive safely, don't drive while high, obey the traffic laws and don't give them a reason to pull you over and you'll be fine!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dean4President wrote...
    Thank You
    November 5, 2012 1:49 pm
    Don't believe the medical marijuana patients. They're just mad because that will end the dispensaries and their earnings from donations.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • malcolmkyle wrote...
    Pay Back Time!
    November 5, 2012 12:59 pm
    Prohibition has finally run its course: Our prisons are full, our economy is in ruins, the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of Americans have been destroyed or severely disrupted. What was once a shining beacon of liberty and prosperity has become a toxic, repressive, smoldering heap of hypocrisy and a gross affront to fundamental human decency. Former and present Prohibitionists shall not be allowed to remain untainted and untouched by the unconscionable acts that they have viciously committed on their fellow citizens. They have provided us with neither safe communities nor safe streets. We will provide them with neither a safe haven to enjoy their ill-gotten gains nor the liberty to repeat such a similar atrocity.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    Worthless discussion
    November 5, 2012 1:02 pm
    until you get the feds to legalize it....end of discussion.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • LegaLizzy wrote...
    Worthwhile discussion!
    November 5, 2012 1:11 pm
    "Worthless discussion?" Cute. Alcohol prohibition ended with states legalizing alcohol in the 1930s while it was still illegal under federal law. Without states rising up to challenge the feds, there will be no change.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Legal Izzy
    November 5, 2012 1:42 pm
    You are aware that The Feds will not recognize the state laws. They will continue to ignore the will of the people and will send SWAT teams and the IRS after all the dispensaries as they have already demonstrated. There is too much $$$ at stake for the PharmaCo's. I am all for the legalization and taxation but just you wait, the Obama administration will sell you out here in say WA like they did in California.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • LegaLizzy wrote...
    Maplefish
    November 5, 2012 4:11 pm
    Again - look up history on alcohol prohibition in the 30s. The exact same thing happened. It was illegal on the FEDERAL level, and states stood up against it and made their own laws. Had that not happened, you wouldn't be able to enjoy a bud light today!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dean4President wrote...
    Yes!
    November 5, 2012 1:46 pm
    I believe that those that vote for I-502 share your view.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • 333 wrote...
    feugo
    November 5, 2012 1:13 pm
    That's a little detail people forget about.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    Even the signature gatherers
    November 5, 2012 2:57 pm
    agreed that the state issued wouldn't keep the feds from busting down your door. One of the ladies collecting signatures asked me if I was a lawyer as I seemed to understand the laws. I assured her I wasn't an attorney but could figure out the obvious.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    * Marijuana 'users' worried I-502 sets legal limit too low . . . .
    November 5, 2012 1:34 pm
    when I get worried I smoke more. Will someone call me a cab please.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }