According to the Sacramento Bee, firms like Oakland-based Hound Labs and Canadian companies are hopeful to have products ready in the latter half of 2020.
What We Know:
- Mike Lynn, Co-Founder of Hound Labs, said that the company’s test would show if you smoked within three hours, which effects your driving abilities.
- The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety published a survey earlier this year, which showed that about 15 million Americans have driven under the influence an hour after smoking marijuana or using cannabis products 30 days before the survey.
- The device developed by both companies is designed to look for levels of THC in your system. But according to Lynn, detecting marijuana is more complicated than alcohol. This is because the amount of psychoactive compounds is small and lower than the amount of alcohol flowing through your body when you are drunk.
- Those in the police force must go through an extensive process to determine if a driver is impaired or not. They have to rely on Drug Recognition Experts (DREs), which are trained professionals who can spot types of impairments caused by different drugs.
- Now, if a DRE suspects a motorist is impaired the driver is taken to the hospital for blood tests to identify what is in their system.
The new device will potentially cut down the costs of examinations and police time. Employers could also use the testers in specific industries to make sure workers aren’t under the influence while using heavy machinery and or doing potentially dangerous tasks.
