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Scientists Invent Weed Breathalyzer

In an era in which the legalization of marijuana is almost an inevitability in the West, the need for law enforcement officers to have some sort of tool at their disposal to determine if a driver is high or not becomes more evident. Thanks to science, we may soon be able to detect pot smoking with a weed breathalyzer.

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Scientists from the Swanson School of Engineering, at the University of Pittsburgh have, at least according to their public press release, created a boxy little device that is able to measure the level of THC in an individual's blood to a high degree of accuracy, pinpointing results at a level equal to or above the mass spectrometry process.

According to the release, “Nanotechnology sensors can detect THC at levels comparable to or better than mass spectrometry, which is considered the gold standard for THC detection.”

As the University of Pittsburgh scientists admit, and many cannabis activists will likely point out, the correlation between THC levels in the blood and any prospective sense of “impairment” is still quite hazy, and hard to sketch out. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) hosts a slew of peer-reviewed information which indicates that even heavy cannabis users show little to no deviation from standard driving practices after having burned one down. 

Making the problem worse is the fact that marijuana remains a Schedule I drug on a federal level in the United States. This makes it very hard to produce reliable research and scientific data.

Alexander Star, PhD, professor of chemistry with a secondary appointment in bioengineering says that “In legal states, you’ll see road signs that say “Drive High, Get a DUI,’ but there has not been a reliable and practical way to enforce that. There are debates in the legal community about what levels of THC would amount to a DUI, but creating such a device is an important first step toward making sure people don’t partake and drive.” 

Whether or not the smoke has cleared around the legalese regarding the eventual roll-out of this brand new pot breathalyzer, it's probably better to skip it before driving. Save the smoke session for after the fact. Your family and your police record will thank you for it.

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Christina Majaski, Khareem Sudlow