Kaitlyn Irick
News Reporter

Colorado state Senator Steve King says his goal is to “decrease traffic fatalities and injuries due to people driving under the influence of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,” the main ingredient in marijuana.

He plans to do so by passing a DUI per se law, which would allow the police to ticket anyone driving with 5 nanograms of THC in his system, a liberal tolerance in comparison to many other states in the U.S.

King began researching the effects of marijuana after citizens whose family members were struck by drivers high on THC contacted him. During his research, he realized that the rate of people driving while high was rapidly rising.

According to a report by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, there were 222 drivers with marijuana on board while driving in 2009. In 2010, that number had risen to 672. By 2011, there were 1,266 drivers with marijuana on board their vehicles. In 2011, there were also 35 THC-related deaths.

“It is legal to smoke marijuana in the constitution I’ve sworn to uphold,” King said. “I will uphold the right, but the constitution doesn’t say you’re allowed to drive [while high].”

King is neither trying to keep people from smoking, especially for medical uses, nor pushing to ban marijuana.

“All I’m saying is, if you’re going to medicate, don’t drive,” King said. “Don’t get behind the wheel and put other people at risk.”

While King, who has a responsibility as a senator to promote safe public travel, wants to decrease accidents and fatalities on the road, he also wants the public to be aware of the risks of driving under the influence of marijuana.

“Hopefully at some point, smoking pot and driving will be viewed the same way as drinking and driving,” King said.

CDPHE research shows that driving with 5 nanograms of THC in the bloodstream is just as dangerous as driving under the influence of two or three martinis.

The DUI per se proposal, which has been put forward four times, most recently “died in a 17 to 17 tie in the Senate,” according to King. However, he plans to present the idea again during the next session in January.

King knows the marijuana industry wants to help people with pain relief and create better lives. However King thinks that the “pain and suffering from accidents has to be a consideration” in what kind of pain the industry strives to relieve.

“How can we not have a law that educates the public and appropriately punishes someone who makes the mistake [of causing an accident]?” King said.

kirick@mavs.coloradomesa.edu