Legislator proposes bill to refine Oklahoma DUI law for marijuana users – The Oklahoman
An Oklahoma legislator has proposed a bill that he says would fix an oversight in the state’s new DUI law, which, in its current form, unintentionally impacts marijuana users.
Oklahoma’s most recently enacted measure expanding the category of offense known as “aggravated DUI,” and took effect on Nov. 1. The law mandates that to qualify for an aggravated DUI, a person must have a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .15 and must have committed at least one of several violations while under the influence, such as driving in an active school zone or with a child in the vehicle.
The law, however, struck the long-standing two-hour window for blood testing involved in Schedule I substances, which unintentionally created an issue for legal marijuana users, as the substance has been shown to remain detectable in the bloodstream for up to 30 days, even without the user experiencing active impairment effects.
House Bill 3018, authored by Rep. Andy Fugate, D-Del City, aims to alter the law to include a clause protecting those who were found to have marijuana, marijuana derivatives or synthetic cannabinoids in their system that would otherwise be shown in blood-testing provisions.
“This issue was brought to my attention by a constituent, and I’m grateful for their help in identifying the problem,” Fugate said in a news release. “HB 3018 ensures that our DUI laws target impaired drivers and not patients who are following Oklahoma’s medical marijuana laws.”
The measure would preserve all field sobriety testing tools to identify real-time impairment and focus the laws on fair and enforceable safety laws.
This alteration largely applies to the aggravated DUI statute. Drivers who are actively impaired by the effects of marijuana at the time of being pulled over can still be charged with a DUI.
