Medical marijuana: Rep. Claire Levy talks about HB 1261, which sets driving limits for THC

Yesterday March 10, 2011 I went to the Capital Building to testify before the House and watch the show.

Firstly in Colorado, medical marijuana is the ONLY medicine that is part of the Colorado CONSTITUTION! We are not guaranteed by RIGHTS to have any other specific medicine in Colorado, so medical marijuana is a big deal and all of these bills that have come up against medical marijuana lately are in direct violation of the Colorado Constitution.

In Colorado there is NO sales tax on any prescription drugs: medicine, yet the only guaranteed by rights medicine is being heavily taxed and is about to be taken over by the Department of Revenue! So this alone shows you the mentally that the Patients must face against those now trying to make up these laws as they disregard the Constitution. That being said, the DUI industry is a HUGE one here in Colorado and this bill is designed to gain MUCH MORE REVENUE, while also trying to get as many licensed medical marijuana drivers of the road for as long as they are Patients!

That’s right! The worst of a condition the Patient might be in like for chronic pain from cancer, degenerating bones and other symptoms it takes more medication, sometimes much more medication than say like for nausea and glaucoma maintenance. These chronic patients build up a huge tolerance and the medicine goes straight to the pain, if the correct strains and edibles are used. These Patients are not constantly high, but rather quite coherent quite on their full dose. This is much UNLIKE taking the dangerous prescription drugs! We are talking a natural substance here!

So for those Patients that are the most experienced in using medical marijuana and have the most tolerance and need for this medicine are the ones that are going to be persecuted the worst by this insane bill! Because I have to constantly have the cannabinoids in my system to keep the pain at bay, at any given time day or night I will have much more than 5 nanograms of THC in my blood!

“They” are suggesting, without even knowing, that “we” do not drive for FOUR HOURS after ingestion! One, because I have to consume edibles as well as smoke, there will not be a four hour period as they suggest. What? Do “they” want Patients with severe pain and conditions to fore go their medication, making them UNSAFE to drive in some cases or certainly less safe? Yeah, you want me to NOT have a good grip on the steering wheel? Well, when I’m in pain, it is much harder to do!

No other Patients have any types of limits in nanograms in their blood for their legal prescriptions while driving in Colorado!

Honestly, do you think Patients are going to be safer while driving on their prescription Vicodine, Percocet, OxyContin and the list goes on. All of those prescriptions can kill by overdose and misuse. There are no cases of death by marijuana ingestion! I have more than 500,000 miles on the road now where I’ve probably had more than 5 nanograms in my blood! I have never had an accident and no silly tickets, only a few speeding tickets. Yes, speeding! I’m a very experienced driver while medicated. When I am not medicated I can be in much more of a hurry and not as patient with the stupid drivers on the road. More than likely I am a better and safer driver than the average reader of this article. Yesterday I challenged the committee to do some real testing with real chronic Patient and I volunteered to be one for those tested.

Now, let’s look at the per se cause. Realize what this means. There is NO probable cause!!! “They” can watch me come out of a dispensary, my home or anywhere. Once in the vehicle, I do not have to do anything wrong. They can pull me over, arrest me and force me to submit to a BLOOD TEST! We do not have to be driving “impaired”! All there has to be is 5 nanograms in our systems and we are not allowed to drive. This is not anything like alcohol! This is a witch hunt designed to take as many medical marijuana Patients down as possible, all the while feeding the those that profit from the courts, the jails, the probation and all the things design to make money off the citizens.

The “science” that “they” presented was so flawed it was ridiculous! There is nothing to back this up scientifically as far as COLORADO chronic medical marijuana Patients are concerned! First some real testing should be done on at least 100 chronic Colorado Patients before they come up with some arbitrary number for all Patients. There is a very well known scientist and professor from CU that specializes in cannabinoid study. Dr. Robert J. Melamede, Ph.D. and he totally disagrees with the so-called science that was presented yesterday in favor of the bill. Please see cannabistherapyinstitute dot com /dui/drbob.let.html

Yes, HB11-1261 was designed to take out the medical marijuana Patients with no regard to their Constitutionally mandated requirements. This is nothing short of insane! So in closing here’s the deal for me. I can die today and they bury me. “They” dig up my body in 30 and test me for THC and guess what? I’m still not going to have low enough number to drive according to this very insane law that is all about revenue producing. Insanity!

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Claire you co sponsorship this with Waller who bragged how he was helping felons like me from the temptation surrounding MMJ buy banning us for life. How did throwing me out of my once very successful business help me, help my daughter with support and college fund, as well as many other bills. he thinks all us felons should be second class citizens for ever, why because we made a mistake and were too poor to circumvent the system. Why not just tattoo numbers on our foreheads once convicted, because you people certainly do not believe in rehabilitation. You folks swear to up hold the constitution but it seems you never bothered to read what is in it. And yet you let your white collar crimes slide by on a daily basis. One day you folks are going to piss the people off so bad they will throw you all out to the lions. Dems-Repubs they are all the same, Greedy and Lazy!

How many Pharmaceuticals do you drive around on Claire?

Better prove first that driving under the influence of marijuana is in fact a public safety problem. Some folks drive better under the influence of pot!

9NEWS ran a great story on this last night. I am terrified for my life. How will I ever drive safely knowing that there are stoners out driving around, going 5 MPH below the speed limit and possibly even eating Funions while driving?

I think that the stance taken by Rep Levy is much too lenient. I want everyone to be stone cold sober on the road, so me and my babies can be safe. I think that every car should have a blood draw machine installed in it that allows for instant testing. Perhaps like a glucose meter but that tests for every drug. If you have ANY drug in your system, alcohol, marijuana or other (including prescriptions) your car simply won't start.

Also I think the cost of this system should be carried by the individual drivers, maybe through a $100/month driving privilege fee, which if you can't pay, too bad no driving.

Only after this is mandatory and all of you alcohol and drug abusers are off the street will I be able to sleep easy at home with my babies safe.

forget the THC levels,and do something about the driving under the influence of alcohol,like a mandatory two years to serve for driving drunk,now that would make our roads safer

Where are the jobs Claire???? Get off the pot Claire and get back to work fixing the damn economy.

Who cares about pot? Just legalize it. That would probably create a lot if jobs right there.

Many more people have had accidents while talking on their cell phones than from consuming marijuana. I would be willing to bet that she's had a couple of chats on the ol cell phone while piloting a 5,000 lb SUV down the road. Why aren't they banning the cell phones while driving ?

If the legeislature wants to go there, let's pull out all the stops and test all drivers for all psychoactive, mood altering or reflex slowing medications. Granny driving on Oxycontin for her cancer? That's a jailin'. Came back from the dentist with some Tylenol #4's and took some before driving to the store? That's a jailin'. Taking Celexa to deal with anxiety? That's a jailin' You get the picture.

Let's see, $1 Billion budget shortfall, hmmm. I know, let's kick that can as far as we can while we figure out more ways to harrass and intimidate medicinal cannabis patients. Awesome.

More Nanny-State BS from a rep with WAY to much free time. But thankfully, Cops in Colorado aren't nurses and can't legally draw blood, so they will have to take time out of their busy day eating donuts to go to a hospital to get blood drawn, which means it won't happen very often and this law is effectively unenforceable THANK GOD. Good Job Claire for trying to put another useless law on the books...

"Findings and Recommendations by an Expert Panel"

Franjo Grotenhermen,1 Gero Leson,2 Günter Berghaus,3 Olaf H. Drummer,4 Hans-Peter Krüger,5 Marie Longo,6 Herbert Moskowitz,7 Bud Perrine,8 Jan Ramaekers,9 Alison Smiley,10 Rob Tunbridge11

"The panel reviewed evidence from experimental and epidemiological studies on DUIC, on the pharmacology of THC, testing for cannabis use and concepts of DUI control."

"In analogy to alcohol, finite (non-zero) per se limits for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood appear to be the most effective approach to separating drivers who are impaired by cannabis use from those who are no longer under the influence. Limited epidemiological studies indicate that serum concentrations of THC below 10 ng/ml are not associated with an elevated accident risk. A comparison of meta-analyses of experimental studies on the impairment of driving-relevant skills by alcohol or cannabis suggests that a THC concentration in the serum of 7–10 ng/ml is correlated with an impairment comparable to that caused by a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. Thus, a suitable numerical limit for THC in serum may fall in that range."

from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com...

(at least if you think that .05 is a reasonable cut off, which it is not. -me)----------------------------------------------------------Ms. Levy, the argument, "all the other States are setting it lower" is just as invalid as when your children make the same argument for something their immature minds desire.The States with "zero tolerance" are morally bankrupt, punishing people who are not impaired for being impaired for nothing other than administrative expedience. That is simply wrong on its face. What is it that you told Mara and Ellie when they gave that argument a try? No ma'am, the science does not support 5 ng/ml as a valid cutoff point. You're going to be punishing people that didn't commit the actual act of impaired driving. Does the Torah say that's an OK thing to do? I'm willing to wager that it specifically says the opposite.

ugh....not this again.

My only question is what are you protecting us from? The thousands of deaths on the highways from people impaired by MMJ?

Ms. Levy, please concern yourself with the real issues affecting you constituents. Have you spoken with Congressman Polis who has informed me that he has not received ONE letter, phone call, complaint, or concern about medicinal marijuana in his district! NOT ONE!

Ms. Levy, your entire district is very much PRO-MMJ. It has been since I was student at CU in the early 80s. Perhaps if we make this a large enough issue, Ms. Levy will find herself back in the public sector and all of this non-sense will stop.

This is all just reefer madness. The only way to stop the legislators is to make sure they are aware that this community has enough money and influence to make sure they are not re-elected.

I can't get over how many of our elected officials are occupying their time concerned with marijuana, something that has been around forever.

Aren't there more important issues to deal with? Isn't this all just a farce to cover the fact they you don't actually do anything?

I will soon be providing the Rep and others with a letter from the Washington Prosecuting Attorneys Association, who weighed in on the DUID madness being proposed (& defeated) report that there is NO MEDICAL UNDERSTANDING of nanograms in blood to identify impairment, so it is NOT a recommended methodology to address DUID of marijuana......