Driving While High
Marijuana legislation brings new safety concerns
Is driving under the influence of marijuana dangerous enough to become an offence? After Massachusetts legalised its use in 2016, authorities worry about its effects on a driver's control.
"The idea is that your brain looks different intoxicated", says Jodi Gilman, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, as she performs brain tests at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Scientists aim to make a prototype brain imaging device by next spring, so that drivers can be pulled over and tested accurately. But unlike in drink-driving offences, a driver is not obliged by law to consent to a test. Matt Allen, Field Director of the state's ACLU, insists that, "we can't base policy on innovations that are yet to happen". With a pro-marijuana population, it won't be an easy ride to a safe solution.
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