Hmmm....since canabinoids remain in the system for about a month, you can test positive and not be impaired. However, you can be impaired (or just a lousy driver) and wind up being charged with a DUI this way. My understanding is that you can be arrested for reckless driving even if you pass all drug/alcohol tests, at least in California. The DUI is more of an enhancement and allows them to throw more punishment at you.

My advice, don't drive erratically...so there is no reason to pull you over.

Jan

Thanks Jan,
The 'driving under the influence of a controlled substance' here carries an immediate suspension of your license for 3-6 months + + if there were injuries involved etc so I guess a prescription wouldn't help (they would say that you shouldn't be driving at all)...
another cunundrum....
Sharon

No, not here either. A prescription does not give you the right to drive stoned or impaired in any way, even from legal substances. But, they cannot pull you over for random drug tests here. You have to actually be driving in a way to raise suspicions.

Jan

No justification needed here...the police can set up barriers at the parking lot exits of nightclubs and pull over every single person for testing (and they do!)...they usually get about 3 out of 4 to give up the keys and call a cab....spot checks are common especially on holiday weekends, vaction and special events...(not bad considering that we have a huge percentage of automobile deaths due to drug or alchol use...something like 2 out of 3)...and it is usually the kids who get killed or kill some innocent person...
Thus the new laws.
Sharon

Here there are two separate laws: one saying if your blood alcohol level is above 0.08% you can't drive. Another that is just regarding "driving under the influence of intoxicants". In this case intoxicants can refer to anything that impairs your ability to drive, including prescription medications (like pain-killers), so medical marijuana would fall under this category.

However, as far as I know there is no way to conclusively test if you are currently stoned, as blood tests would show anything within the last month. So any arrests would be made on the grounds of observational evidence (bleary, bloodshot eyes; marijuana odors; body posturing; speech patters; etc.) But I have been in a DUI class where there was a girl there who had no alcohol in her system, only marijuana, so I know it happens... and in my experience, in these sorts of cases the judges always side with the cops, regardless of the evidence.

On another note, the medical cannabis tincture that I use gives me the medicinal benefits but does not affect my head in any way... I am left relaxed but clear-thinking, so I would feel pretty safe driving with it, even though I primarily just use it before bed anyway.

The rule in our house is the same for alcohol and marijuana. No driving after either one, regardless of how much was ingested. It may seem strict but I live at the top of a steep hill with very windy roads.