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Pennsylvania senators on Tuesday heard testimony on a bill to protect medical marijuana patients<\/a> from being prosecuted under the state\u2019s \u201czero tolerance\u201d DUI laws.<\/p>\n Health professionals, lawyers and law enforcement officials spoke before the Senate Transportation Committee, highlighting the unique complications that cannabis patients and police face under the current statute and the constitutionality of the proposed reform.<\/p>\n The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R), would amend state law to require proof of active impairment before a registered patient could be prosecuted for driving under the influence. The current lack of specific protections for the state\u2019s roughly 368,000 patients puts them in legal jeopardy when on the road, supporters say.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, Pennsylvania\u2019s zero tolerance DUI law does not contemplate the difference between medicinal and recreational use of marijuana,\u201d Bartolotta told committee members at the hearing. \u201cBecause of this, unimpaired patients currently face the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and convicted for using medicinal marijuana that has no bearing on their ability to drive a vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n My remarks from today’s Senate Transportation Committee regarding my legislation that would update Title 75 to ensure legal medicinal cannabis patients who are unimpaired do not receive a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) conviction.<\/p>\n Full story: https:\/\/t.co\/YDJwcLgdUn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Bartolotta (@senbartolotta) September 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n While many other medical cannabis states require proof of impairment or have set per se THC limits for driving, Pennsylvania maintains a zero tolerance policy for marijuana.<\/p>\n Patrick Nightingale, a criminal defense attorney who is also part of the reform organization Law Enforcement Action Partnership, explained to the committee that the current law makes it so people can be prosecuted for having cannabis metabolites present in their system while driving. That\u2019s troubling, he said, because those compounds can be present for weeks after a person ingests marijuana, and it does not prove active impairment.<\/p>\n He said that while everyone agrees that medical cannabis patients shouldn\u2019t be given a free pass to drive while intoxicated on marijuana, the proposed bill would simply align the state\u2019s policy with the science and provide necessary protections for patients.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very encouraged that Senator Bartolotta was willing to step up on behalf of Pennsylvania patients. We have been struggling for over two years to get some traction on DUI reform bills,\u201d Nightingale told Marijuana Moment. He added that he feels confident that, because the sponsor is part of the legislature\u2019s majority party, the bill will move through committee and ultimately become enacted.<\/p>\n The legislation would essentially make it so medical cannabis would be treated the same by law enforcement as Schedule II and III drugs such as prescription opioids and anti-anxiety medication.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u201cThis, in my opinion as a criminal defense attorney, activist and medical cannabis patient, is the most pressing issue facing our 350,000 plus medical cannabis patient population,\u201d Nightingale said.<\/p>\n Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, submitted written testimony to the committee.<\/p>\n \u201cZero tolerance DUI prosecutions and convictions without proof of actual impairment and reliance on non-psychoactive metabolites is unscientific and without any rational support,\u201d he said, adding that even per se THC limits for drivers that have been imposed in other states are unscientific attempts to address the issue without recognizing the complex pharmacokinetic properties of cannabis and its effects on consumers.<\/p>\n Members of the committee<\/a> did not vote on the proposal on Tuesday, but the hearing sets the stage for later action.<\/p>\n Another bill we\u2019re discussing is SB 167, which would require proof of intoxication for a medical marijuana patient who is given a DUI. Right now, PA\u2019ans with medical marijuana prescriptions can be at risk of losing their licenses for using medication prescribed by a doctor.<\/p>\n \u2014 Senator John Kane (@SenatorJohnKane) September 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Bartolotta\u00a0first introduced an earlier version<\/a> of her bill<\/a>\u00a0in June 2020. She said at the time that the state needs to \u201censure that the legal use of this medicine does not give rise to a criminal conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n Months after the standalone reform legislation was introduced, the Pennsylvania House approved\u00a0a separate amendment that would enact the policy change<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania legalized medical marijuana in 2016, with the first dispensaries in the state opening in 2018. But the state\u2019s zero-tolerance DUI law still doesn\u2019t reflect those changes.<\/p>\n \u201cUnimpaired patients currently face the risk of being arrested, prosecuted and convicted for using medicinal marijuana that has no bearing on their ability to drive a vehicle,\u201d the senator\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in a cosponsorship memo late last year. \u201cGiven the very serious consequences of a DUI conviction, my legislation will provide critical protections for medicinal cannabis patients by ensuring responsible use of their legal medicine does not give rise to a criminal conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n Witnesses who testified on Tuesday emphasized that evidence isn\u2019t clear on the relationship between THC concentrations in blood and impairment.<\/p>\n The #PASenate<\/a> Transportation Committee received testimony during a hearing on my #SB167<\/a> which would update Title 75 to ensure legal medicinal cannabis patients who are unimpaired do not received a DUI conviction. @PASenateGOP<\/a> @SenLangerholc<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/UufWjRjVvi<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Senator Bartolotta (@senbartolotta) September 21, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n A study published in 2019, for example, concluded that those who drive at the legal THC limit\u2014which is typically between two to five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood\u2014were not statistically more likely to be involved in an accident<\/a>\u00a0compared to people who haven\u2019t used marijuana.<\/p>\n Separately, the\u00a0Congressional Research Service in 2019 determined<\/a>\u00a0that while \u201cmarijuana consumption can affect a person\u2019s response times and motor performance\u2026 studies of the impact of marijuana consumption on a driver\u2019s risk of being involved in a crash have produced conflicting results, with some studies finding little or no increased risk of a crash from marijuana usage.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside of this bill, Pennsylvania lawmakers have continued to pursue adult-use legalization in the state. Earlier this year, two legislators\u00a0circulated a memo to build support<\/a>\u00a0for a comprehensive reform bill they plan to introduce, for example.<\/p>\n A bipartisan Senate duo is also in the process of crafting legislation to legalize cannabis across the commonwealth. They\u00a0announced some details of the proposal earlier this year<\/a>, but the bill has yet to be formally introduced.<\/p>\n Outside the legislature, Gov. Tom Wolf (D)\u00a0said earlier this year that marijuana legalization was a priority<\/a>\u00a0as he negotiated the annual budget with lawmakers. However, his formal spending request didn\u2019t contain legislative language to actually accomplish the cannabis policy change.<\/p>\n Wolf, who signed\u00a0a medical cannabis expansion bill in June<\/a>, has repeatedly called for legalization and\u00a0pressured the Republican-controlled legislature to pursue the reform<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0coming out in favor of the policy in 2019<\/a>. Shortly after he did that, a lawmaker filed a separate bill to\u00a0legalize marijuana through a state-run model<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D),\u00a0who is running for U.S. Senate<\/a>, previously led a\u00a0listening tour across the state<\/a>\u00a0to solicit public input on legalization. He\u2019s credited that effort with helping to move the governor toward embracing comprehensive reform. The lieutenant governor even\u00a0festooned his Capitol office<\/a>\u00a0with marijuana-themed decor in contravention of a state law passed by the GOP-led legislature.<\/p>\n Fetterman has also been actively involved in encouraging the governor to exercise his clemency power for cannabis cases while the legislature moves to advance reform.<\/p>\n In May,\u00a0Wolf pardoned a doctor<\/a>\u00a0who was arrested, prosecuted and jailed for growing marijuana that he used to provide relief for his dying wife. That marks his\u00a096th pardon for people with cannabis convictions<\/a>\u00a0through the Expedited Review Program for Non-Violent Marijuana-Related Offenses that\u2019s being run by the Board of Pardons.<\/p>\n Overall, legalization is popular among Pennsylvania voters, with 58 percent of residents saying\u00a0they favor ending cannabis prohibition<\/a>\u00a0in a survey released in April.<\/p>\n Another poll released in May found that a majority of voters in the state also\u00a0support decriminalizing all currently illicit drugs<\/a>.<\/p>\n New York Officials Say Marijuana Tax Revenue Will Help Fill Budget Gap From Declining Cigarette Sales<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Pennsylvania Senators Discuss Bill To Provide DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana Patients<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania senators on Tuesday heard testimony on a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from being prosecuted under the state\u2019s \u201czero tolerance\u201d DUI laws. Health professionals, lawyers and law enforcement officials spoke before the Senate Transportation Committee, highlighting the unique complications that cannabis patients and police face under the currentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":50080,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50079"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50081,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50079\/revisions\/50081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania Senators Discuss Bill To Provide DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana Patients<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"