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Pennsylvania lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills meant to prevent police from charging medical cannabis patients with impaired driving without proof of intoxication.<\/p>\n
The Senate version of the legislation from Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R) cleared the Senate Transportation Committee, with amendments, in a unanimous vote last week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a House bill sponsored by Rep. Christopher Rabb (D), which is drafted differently but meant to achieve the same goal, passed that chamber\u2019s Transportation Committee, 14-10.<\/p>\n
Bartolotta said the measure\u2014an earlier version of which also advanced last year<\/a>\u2014is designed to close a \u201cloophole\u201d in Pennsylvania\u2019s medical cannabis law that currently permits law enforcement to arrest and prosecute patients for driving under the influence of marijuana without demonstrating that they are actively impaired.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2016, we legalized the use of medicinal cannabis for a myriad of conditions. We were very careful with how the language was crafted in an attempt to avoid unintended consequences,\u201d the senator said during the committee meeting. \u201cSince that time, it has become very obvious that we overlooked one very important aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n She pointed out that the majority of states, including some that have not legalized medical marijuana, require proof of impairment for DUI cases. But Pennsylvania\u2019s law maintains that cannabis is considered a Schedule I drug for the purposes of impaired driving, regardless of a person\u2019s status as a state-registered medical marijuana patient.<\/p>\n That\u2019s led to situations where people have faced DUI charges after being stopped by police, identifying as a medical cannabis patient and then being required to submit to a drug test that showed the presence of inactive THC metabolites, which can stay in a person\u2019s systems for days or weeks after using marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one should be put through this situation if they are legally and responsibly using medical cannabis in Pennsylvania,\u201d Bartolotta said<\/a>. \u201cIt is past time that we correct this egregious oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n Her bill<\/a> as amended in committee says that, for lawful medical cannabis patients, \u201cproof of actual impairment shall be required if the individual is unable to safely drive, operate or be in actual physical control of a vehicle.\u201d A medical marijuana certification \u201cshall not, in and of itself, be sufficient evidence for a conviction.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, having a medical cannabis card on its own could not be used as the basis to charge a person with a DUI, nor could it be used as grounds to require a drug test.<\/p>\n It further states that nothing about the bill would interfere in the enforcement of marijuana policies for federally regulated drivers operating commercial vehicles or school buses.<\/p>\n Under both the Senate and House bills, police would need to rely on standard field sobriety tests and drug recognition experts to make a determination that a medical marijuana patient was driving under the influence.<\/p>\n The House legislation<\/a> that cleared committee was amended with language requested by the State Police and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that, like the Senate version, clarifies that federally contracted or licensed commercial drivers are not covered under the protections.<\/p>\n \u201cI take this very seriously as the father of a new driver,\u201d Rabb, the sponsor, said during last week\u2019s hearing. \u201cI also take this seriously for those hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians who have drivers licenses and medical cannabis cards, who have no idea that they are imperiled just getting behind the wheel\u2014not because they\u2019re impaired, but because of how law enforcement may view them behind the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawmaker said that, when he became a medical cannabis patient himself, he \u201cdidn\u2019t think I would have any issues\u201d because he doesn\u2019t use intoxicating products, abides by the state\u2019s law and doesn\u2019t drive while impaired.<\/p>\n \u201cI was wrong,\u201d he said, noting that he\u2019s received a \u201cflurry\u201d of messages from medical cannabis patients since first introducing his bill, detailing how their \u201clives have been turned upside down\u201d because they were charged with DUIs without proof of impairment.<\/p>\n \u201cAll this bill seeks to do is to set the level playing field\u2014same with any other medications,\u201d he said. \u201cOtherwise, medical cannabis shouldn\u2019t be considered illegal, but it is. So, one standard. One standard.\u201d<\/p>\n The text of his legislation would revise the state\u2019s criminal code to specify that medical cannabis is not considered a Schedule I drug in suspected DUI cases, except for licensed commercial drivers.<\/p>\n My #cannabisDUI<\/a> just passed in the #PAHouse<\/a> Transportation Cmte meeting just now with bipartisan support!<\/p>\n This bill protects the 100s of thousands of law-abiding, UNIMPAIRED PA drivers who are responsible #medicalcannabis<\/a> users from wrongful #DUI<\/a> arrests.#cannabis<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Gavev4wUlZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Chris Rabb (@RepRabb) December 11, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Rabb also secured the medical cannabis DUI protections reform as an amendment<\/a> to a large-scale transportation bill that passed the full House in 2020. However, that bill was not ultimately enacted.<\/p>\n Both of the latest Senate and House proposals were approved in their respective committees during the final days of the 2023 session. Members are scheduled to come back into session in early February, after which point the bills could continue to advance, though at some point the chambers would need to reconcile the differing language.<\/p>\n Bartolotta said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that she\u2019s \u201cvery encouraged\u201d that her bill \u201cwill be put up for a vote as soon as we get back.\u201d<\/p>\n My bill passed out of committee and is now awaiting a floor vote in the Senate. We will be back to session in February and I am very encouraged that it will be put up for a vote as soon as we get back.<\/p>\n \u2014 Camera Bartolotta While the reform appears positioned to advance further, advocates remain frustrated that lawmakers in the divided legislature have so far failed to enact broader marijuana legalization, especially as neighboring states implement their own adult-use markets.<\/p>\n However, as momentum has built, a Pennsylvania House committee held a second informational hearing on marijuana legalization last week<\/a>. After Ohio voters\u2019 decision last month to legalize recreational cannabis, both Pennsylvania\u2019s governor and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) have said it\u2019s time for Pennsylvania to make the change, too.<\/p>\n Fetterman said recently that\u00a0the state is being \u201clapped\u201d on marijuana policy<\/a>\u00a0as neighboring states enact legalization.<\/p>\n Bartolotta as well as pro-legalization Sen. Sharif Street are separately seeking co-sponsors for a more modest change, circulating a legislative proposal that would decriminalize marijuana<\/a> by downgrading simple possession from a misdemeanor crime to a civil offense.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) signed a bill last week to allow all licensed medical marijuana grower-processors in the state to serve as retailers and sell their cannabis products directly to patients<\/a>. Independent dispensaries could also start cultivating their own marijuana.<\/p>\n Colorado Panel Hears Ballot Proposal To Let Marijuana Users Obtain Concealed Carry Permits<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Pennsylvania Lawmakers Approve Bills To Protect Medical Cannabis Patients From DUI Charges<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania lawmakers have advanced a pair of bills meant to prevent police from charging medical cannabis patients with impaired driving without proof of intoxication. The Senate version of the legislation from Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R) cleared the Senate Transportation Committee, with amendments, in a unanimous vote last week. Meanwhile, aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":71144,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71143"}],"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=71143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71145,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71143\/revisions\/71145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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(@CameraForSenate) December 19, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n
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\nRead More: Pennsylvania Lawmakers Approve Bills To Protect Medical Cannabis Patients From DUI Charges<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"