\u201cThis reinforces our understanding of the voters\u2019 intent, expressed through their enactment of Proposition 207, that unimpaired driving after consuming marijuana cannot be penalized.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Jim Small, Arizona Mirror<\/strong><\/p>\n The state can\u2019t suspend someone\u2019s driver\u2019s license because they have THC in their bloodstream unless they are actually impaired while behind the wheel, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled, upholding a provision in a marijuana legalization law that voters passed in 2020.<\/p>\n Aaron Kirsten was pulled over for speeding in Sedona in October 2022, and the police officer saw that he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and was unsteady on his feet. Kirsten refused a field sobriety test, but when he did a breathalyzer test, he blew a 0.083, slightly above the legal limit, and he was arrested.<\/p>\n While in custody, Kirsten consented to a blood draw, but the Department of Public Safety\u2019s analysis showed his blood alcohol content was just 0.063, less than the 0.08 maximum BAC allowed under state law.<\/p>\n But DPS also tested Kirsten\u2019s blood for drugs and found he had tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites. As a result, the Arizona Department of Transportation suspended his license for 90 days, citing a state law that bars driving if THC metabolites are present.<\/p>\n At an administrative appeal, Kirsten testified that he hadn\u2019t consumed THC in the 24 hours prior to his arrest, and any effects from the THC he had consumed had long ago passed. A family member who is a nurse and chiropractor also testified on Kirsten\u2019s behalf, telling the administrative law judge that THC metabolites\u2014the compounds that form as the body breaks down a substance\u2014can stay in the blood for weeks after consumption.<\/p>\n But the administrative law judge said it was \u201cirrelevant\u201d whether Kirsten had smoked marijuana within 24 hours of his arrest and sided with ADOT, ruling that the agency didn\u2019t need to prove he was impaired by THC to suspend his license for using it previously.<\/p>\n Kirsten appealed the ruling to the Maricopa County Superior Court, which upheld the administrative judge\u2019s reasoning.<\/p>\n But the appellate court said<\/a> both got it wrong and effectively ignored voter-created laws that bars the state from punishing drivers who have legally used marijuana products but are not impaired while driving.<\/p>\n The first law says that the state cannot limit \u201cany right or privilege conferred or protected by the laws of this state\u201d for legal use of marijuana. Driving, the appellate court noted, is a privilege under Arizona law, and thus Kirsten\u2019s driving privileges are among the things that cannot be limited merely because he had THC metabolites in his blood.<\/p>\n And Proposition 207 spelled out that the state was allowed to penalize people for driving \u201cwhile impaired to even the slightest degree\u201d by marijuana, something that wasn\u2019t the case for Kirsten.<\/p>\n Taken together, those two laws approved by voters mean a driver can only be guilty of violating an earlier state law that bans driving with THC metabolites in the blood\u2014even if they\u2019re inactive metabolites and the person is not intoxicated\u2014if he or she is \u201calso impaired to the slightest degree.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis reinforces our understanding of the voters\u2019 intent, expressed through their enactment of Proposition 207, that unimpaired driving after consuming marijuana cannot be penalized,\u201d the unanimous three-judge panel wrote.<\/p>\n Kirsten also scored another victory in the case, as the appeals court rejected the state\u2019s attempt to uphold the license suspension because he was impaired by alcohol. The state\u2019s attorneys focused their case on the argument that impairment wasn\u2019t required to justify a license suspension and not the officer\u2019s testimony that Kirsten was actually impaired.<\/p>\n \u201cThe State waived that position by choosing not to pursue it,\u201d Judge Andrew Jacobs wrote in the ruling.<\/p>\n This story was first published by Arizona Mirror.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Top GOP Pennsylvania Senator Voices Support For Marijuana Decriminalization, Activist Who Spoke With Her Says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo elements courtesy of rawpixel<\/a> and Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post Arizona Court Says Marijuana Users Must Actually Be Impaired To Be Punished For DUI<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis reinforces our understanding of the voters\u2019 intent, expressed through their enactment of Proposition 207, that unimpaired driving after consuming marijuana cannot be penalized.\u201d By Jim Small, Arizona Mirror The state can\u2019t suspend someone\u2019s driver\u2019s license because they have THC in their bloodstream unless they are actually impaired while behindContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"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\/78096"}],"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\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78096"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78097,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78096\/revisions\/78097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Arizona Court Says Marijuana Users Must Actually Be Impaired To Be Punished For DUI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"