COLUMBUS, Ohio — Driving under the influence of marijuana is nothing new for law enforcement.
According to Ohio law, someone is considered over the legal limit for marijuana while driving if their urine has 10 nanograms or more per millimeter of concentration of marijuana or 2 nanograms, or more per millimeter of marijuana concentration in their blood.
For people who use marijuana, it’s hard to measure when you are OK to drive. The best advice from law enforcement is if you use marijuana, don’t get behind the wheel.
But how does law enforcement test for cannabis?
10TV spoke with Shane Brandel, the chief of police in Decatur, Illinois. Recreational marijuana has been legal in Illinois since 2020.
“I think that’s one of the biggest challenges for police departments and officers is the test procedures. Testing for DUI for cannabis is very different from testing for alcohol,” said Brandel.
Brandel said in Illinois they have specialized training for officers who test for cannabis.
“It’s a weeklong training or more. You need to become a drug recognition expert and those are the guys we use when drugs are involved using cannabis,” said Brandel. “We actually have trained phlebotomists in our police department. We have a handful of officers trained in that so if need to be they can take the blood themselves,” he added.
In Illinois, if an officer suspects DUI related to cannabis, then a trained officer can test on scene, or someone can be tested at the hospital. Brandel said his biggest piece of advice for officers in Ohio is to get adequate training.
“You need to invest in the training for your officers. That is by far the number one thing you need to do. The investigation for DUIs is different than alcohol, and it requires different things to be that expert,” said Brandel.
Jeralyn Shimell, with Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said they don’t have a stance on recreational marijuana. But they do want people to be careful.
“We just worry about people using and driving at the same time. All MADD ever asks is don’t drive impaired whether its alcohol, drugs, illicit drugs or whatever,” said Shimell.
Shimell encourages people who use marijuana to make sure they don’t get behind the wheel.
“There’s too many other ways to get around today Lyft, Uber all sorts of ways,” she said.