Driving high in Colorado could get you charged with DUI

Driving high in Colorado could now get you charged with DUI
Amanda Surber




On Tuesday the Colorado State House passed a bill that would allow people who are deemed “too high to drive” to potentially be issued a DUI. This would measure the amount of the chemical THC that is found in the driver’s bloodstream.

There are already laws in place that make it illegal for drivers to drive under the influence of any drug, but this bill looks to set real numbers that identify who is too high to be operating a car.

This idea is similar to measuring the amount of alcohol found in a driver’s bloodstream (the legal limit for alcohol is .08 in Colorado). THC levels will be measured by a blood test, if a driver has more than five nanograms per milliliter of the component in their blood, they will be considered too high to drive.

The bill was passed by the House and is off to the Senate and did so with a count of 51-14 on Wednesday. The bill is now on its way to State Senate to see if it can be made into a law.

This bill may have passed with ease, but controversy is inevitable. Many people, users and non-users believe that this bill is cracking down too hard.

“This (bill) just goes too far, the state should not be able to penalize you for driving high on the same level as an alcohol based DUI, they aren’t even on the same playing field,” said junior history major Edward Eide. “Driving while high is different from driving drunk, each have their own risk level, so it is ridiculous to have the same penalty for both,” said Eide.

Others agree with him but also state that there is an issue of safety whilst driving under the influence of marijuana. “I think it would be harder to measure the effects of “being high,” but driving impaired under the influence of any drug, be it alcohol, narcotics or pain killers is a safety issue,” said junior art major Austin McCasland.

Junior communications major Sam Kelley agrees with McCasland by adding, “I think they should definitely be penalized but not to the equivalent of a DUI, and alcohol has proven to be more dangerous than marijuana, so the punishments should reflect the danger accordingly.”

There are proponents of this bill however among the student population. “I feel it is appropriate (to pass this into a law). Driving reaction times are impaired whether you having been drinking or using marijuana, there is still an issue of safety,” said junior journalism major Darian Warden.

This bill was the bi-partisan effort of Democrat Claire Levy and Republican Mark Waller.

(Levy and Waller)


A group that feels targeted by this bill is The Cannabis Therapy Institute, which is a Colorado-based medical marijuana advocacy organization. They state that this bill is, “unfounded... unnecessary and may cause medical marijuana patients to become a target for DUI arrests."

The Cannabis Therapy Institute is urging its members, the public and medical marijuana users to contact their senators and tell them the negative effects that this bill will have on them.

One of their main arguments is the “unfair” forced blood withdrawal that will occur if a driver is suspected of being high. Their website states that, “HB1261 will require a "forced blood draw", forcing anyone suspected of driving under the influence of THC to submit to a blood draw forced by the state. Currently, alcohol levels can be tested through urine, breath or blood. But under the THC/DUI bill, the nanogram count can only come from a forced blood draw.”

The CTI is not trying to stop this bill from becoming a law, they simply want medical marijuana users to be exempt or be held to a different standard than other “high” drivers. They do not want their members targeted and they want more equality to occur.

This bill looks like it is on its way to passing in Colorado Senate and many people in this state will be affected by its outcomes. It will bring safety to some and outrage to others. If passed into a law, this bill could go into effect as early as July 1, 2011.