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Should Per Se Limits Be Imposed For Cannabis? Equating Cannabinoid Blood Concentrations With Actual Driver Impairment: Practical Limitations And Concerns, Paul Armentano

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

Fourteen US states have amended their longstanding, effect-based DUI drug laws to per se or zero tolerant per se statutes in regard to cannabis. Other states are considering enacting similar legislation. Under these amended traffic safety laws, it is a criminal violation for one to operate a motor vehicle with trace levels of cannabinoids or their metabolites in his or her blood or urine. Opponents of per se cannabinoid limits argue that neither the presence of cannabinoids nor their metabolites are appropriate or consistent predictors of behavioral or psychomotor impairment. They further argue that the imposition of such per se …

High Time For Change: The Legalization Of Marijuana And Its Impact On Warrantless Roadside Motor Vehicle Searches, Molly E. O'Connell

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

The proliferation of marijuana legalization has changed the relationship between driving and marijuana use. While impaired driving remains illegal, marijuana use that does not result in impairment is not a bar to operating a motor vehicle. Scientists have yet to find a reliable way for law enforcement officers to make this distinction. In the marijuana impairment context, there is not a scientifically proven equivalent to the Blood Alcohol Content standard nor are there reliable roadside assessments. This scientific and technological void has problematic consequences for marijuana users that get behind the wheel and find themselves suspected of impaired driving. Without …

Trends In Cannabis-Related And Opioid-Related Hospitalization Rates In Maine, 2010-2020, Suzanne Mcmahon, Katherine Ahrens

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Introduction: Medical marijuana use became legal in the state of Maine in 1999, and recreational adult-use marijuana became legal in 2016. However, the rates of hospitalization related to marijuana (also known as cannabis) use have not been studied. We estimated trends in cannabis-related hospitalization rates in Maine based on rurality and descriptively compared these trends to opioid-related hospitalization rates during the past decade.

Methods: We obtained de-identified data of inpatient encounters for Maine residents between 2010 and 2020 from MaineHealth Data Organization. We then calculated age-standardized rates of cannabis-related and opioid-related hospitalizations overall and by rural-urban residence using International Classification …

Taking It To The Bank: The Need For A Federal Legislative Safe Harbor For Financial Institutions Offering Services To State-Legal Marijuana-Related Businesses, Andrew Bloomfield

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

Imagine that you are a small business owner. Rather than opening a new coffee shop, craft brewery, or chic clothing store, you decide to enter one of the fastest-growing industries in the country: marijuana (also referred to herein as “cannabis”). Your state, Washington, has recently legalized recreational use of marijuana, and your new marijuana-related business (MRB), Plantworks, has joined thousands of other licensed producers to supply the new growing market.

You and your business partner lease 2,500 square feet of industrial workspace in Seattle’s North End and produce several pounds of high-quality “craft” cannabis for distribution to local dispensaries. …