WSP arrests 32 drivers during 4/20 emphasis patrols

Washington State Patrol arrested almost three-dozen drivers for suspected impairment over the weekend, during emphasized patrols deployed for 4/20.

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According to Trooper Rick Johnson, patrols arrested a total of 32 drivers over the weekend emphasis period.

Trooper Chelsea Hodgson said that one driver pulled over on the Olympic Peninsula admitted to having smoked pot, then fell asleep during the impairment testing. Another was pulled over “around 4:20 on 4/20,” on his way to a fast food restaurant in Port Orchard, admitting that he had smoked marijuana in the hour prior to his arrest.

As a day renowned for its place as the world’s unofficial marijuana holiday, the expectation was that it would be akin to Super Bowl Sunday, with impaired drivers on the roads en masse.

Things weren’t nearly as bad as WSP expected though, between heavy messaging beforehand about patrols, and encouragement from law enforcement to make safe choices.

In the week leading up to 4/20, WSP unveiled its revamped mobile DUI investigation unit: A 36-foot-long trailer capable of testing blood on-site, a key aspect of determining intoxication in suspected marijuana stops.

Patrols were beefed up across the state’s various law enforcement agencies, including Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, Lynnwood Police Department, Mountlake Terrace Police Department, and Everett Police Department among others.

All that being so, Trooper Johnson noted that drivers should “make good choices no matter what the date is.”

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