As we near the deadline for the Arizona legislature to institute rules for medical marijuana in the state, many are also considering the implications for other aspects of their lives. Medical marijuana users will be a reality very soon, and possibly more widespread than we think. One topic that many medical marijuana users are not considering is driving in Arizona. Because marijuana is difficult to isolate in tests for intoxication, many believe they will be able to use marijuana and drive without repercussions. Nothing could be further from the truth, really. Enforcement standards in the state are higher than ever, and law enforcement officers can detect, test, and arrest for marijuana use while driving.
Marijuana’s key ingredient, THC, is detectable for up to thirty days with certain forms of testing. At a minimum, with saliva tests it can be detected for up to twelve hours. This means that the state will not be able to use ARS 28-1321(2) or (3) against the medical marijuana user, since the actual presence of a legal substance is clearly defined as not illegal in ARS 28-1321(4) D. However, ARS 28-1381(1) states that if a substance is present, despite legality, Y the person is legally intoxicated as observed by the arresting officer, they are still in violation.
To make this clear, let me present a scenario. John is a legal medical marijuana card holder who has smoked marijuana approximately ten hours ago. He then gets involved in a minor accident to which a police officer responds. The officer believes that John is intoxicated. They do a saliva test, which comes back positive for THC. He informs the officer that he is a medical marijuana card holder. He is not guilty of a DUI by reason of ARS 28-1321 (2-4). The officer still requests that you perform a field sobriety test to determine his intoxication; John fails this test miserably. John is still going to be arrested for a DUI pursuant to the first paragraph (ARS 28-1381 (1)) of the statute, which states that since John has anything in your system and it is noted that you are intoxicated, you are driving under the influence.
What does this mean for medical marijuana card holders in Arizona? Simply put, driving in Arizona will be risky until the specifics of the drug DUI application are ironed out. At any time after smoking marijuana, they will be at risk of a DUI if they are involved in even the slightest crash. Since police officers respond to all accidents in the Phoenix metro area, even the careful cardholder could be at risk. My advice is still to hire an attorney and have him on hold if you are a medical marijuana cardholder in the valley; they should do this, at a minimum, until law enforcement has resolved the problems in the drug DUI enforcement system.