Oklahoma toughened their marijuana driving laws this week, creating a limit of zero THC in a driver’s blood and setting it as a per se limit. That means that if you have any marijuana or marijuana metabolites in your system whatsoever, you’re guilty of driving under the influence.
So, if it wasn’t already on your list of life rules, you should add DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH OKLAHOMA on there. Sorry Oklahoman’s but your state is about as far from being okay with marijuana as it gets.
House Bill 1441 doesn’t specifically mention marijuana and actually makes trace amounts of anySchedule 1 federally-controlled substance illegal. That means marijuana, heroin and LSD. Interestingly, there’s no mention of Schedule II substances in the bill, which includes cocaine. It also includes other legal drugs pumped out by big pharma — you know, the same ones who fund politicians — so excluding Schedule II drugs isn’t really a surprise
Since any form of THC is already illegal in Oklahoma, lawmakers argued that there shouldn’t be any tolerance for internal possession of THC either. Oklahoma joins ten other states who have specific zero-tolerance laws for marijuana, including Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Delaware, Iowa, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Utah and Michigan. Six other states have set limits on the amount of THC, with Colorado and Washington having the highest tolerance levels at 5 nanograms of active THC per milliliter of blood.
At least one person is speaking out against the new Oklahoma law. Oklahoma attorney Charles Sifers tells local KFOR News that the law lacks scientific data and needs to be reexamined and that blood tests need to be scrutinized.
“In this instance any amount of Schedule 1, or any metabolite from Schedule 1, presumes you under the influence,” he said. “Marijuana can stay in your system a long time. Long after any impairing or effecting comes from smoking the marijuana.
