LIVE - Colorado Senate Discusses First THC-DUI bill

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Please Help spread the word we got a big fight this week, I hope all you 420 lovin' MMJ "activists" are over any lingering cases of Cup Cough because it is time to go up to the capitol and take a stand for patients rights on Tuesday the 1st. The final hearing concerning SB12-117 the MMJ duid bill is happening, and if you think that shit is going away because the science is flawed, or because the state cant afford it, or because it violates rulings by the supreme court concerning a person's right to privacy where their blood content is the proof of a "crime"; think again, this is the time when your Ass needs to back your mouth up about fighting the good fight for just laws, and write your emails to legislators against SB12-117...

Oh, and keep reading cause I got some more politics for you, and some deals, so this is a long read this week.. Lemme remind y'all to get your orders in ASAP cause I gotta hand-make all your delicious edibles on top of raging it at the capitol. Colorado Springs, and points south this is your week, Tuesday is your day and while I will be up at the capitol, Rob will be making the rounds down south with bells on, so please help me out and send us your orders, NOW is a good time for that!... Boulder Longmont, Garden City, Berthoud, Lyons and all points north who get their deliveries on Wednesday I will have to make your orders after my trip to the Legislature, late on Tuesday night, so I wont be here to make your reminder calls, please leave a voice message with your order, or better yet send your email order here by Tuesday mid-day and that will really be a big help... of course astute readers know by know that if you read to the end of this newsletter you will find a good reason to help me out and get your order in by the end of the day Monday and $ave no matter what route you are on!

Colorado General Assembly
*note this is on page 8, final item on the agenda, so plan for a very very long day...
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Colorado Capitol Watch
GENERAL ORDERS - SECOND READING OF BILLS - CONSENT CALENDAR 9am senate chambers:
SB12-117 by Senator(s) King S.; --Concerning the penalties for persons who drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. (State, Veterans & Military Affairs recommends the bill be amended as printed in Senate Journal, February 28, 2012, pages 313-314.)
(Appropriations recommends the bill be amended as printed in Senate Journal, April 27, 2012, pages 922-923.)

The issues in brief (ha ha ha) are as follows, if you aren't sure what to write about pick one of these topics and add your own thoughts and research or cut and past what you like, emails must be sent by the end of the day Monday....

1. The state can not afford the fiscal impacts of SB12-117 at this time when budgets for all state agencies are strained...
a. as of the last year data was available the state of Colorado had 1,100+ untested samples waiting for analysis, the lab is currently understaffed. Colorado House OKs bill setting limit on pot in driver's system - The Denver Post
"The health department is one of three labs in the state certified to conduct blood-sample drug analyses. In 2009, it tested 793 samples from drivers police suspected of drugged driving. That jumped to 1,635 samples received last year (2010), of which 125 have yet to be tested. The department is facing such a backlog that none of the 1,176 samples submitted so far this year (2011) have been tested."
b. the State of Colorado is currently having to pay to have 1,700 blood samples re-tested due to employee error, at the state's expense. Colorado to retest 1,700 blood samples from DUI cases after lab employee's errors uncovered - The Denver Post
State retests hundreds of DUI blood samples | KWGN.com – Denver ...
kwgn.com/2012/04/20/state-retests-hundreds-of-dui-blood-samples/
c. SB12-117 does not appear on the state's budget so all fiscal impacts would be pushed back to tax strapped voters in local municipalities, this would likely have a proportionally greater fiscal impact on smaller communities.
d. the economists agree Cost of Colorado drugged-driving legislation is stumbling block - The Denver Post
THC driving bill's real cost may be as high as $3 million, ex-judge says
e. this legislation drives a local enforcement negative profit stream, while it benefits local "offender management services"... Marijuana DUIs Went Up 76% In Nevada With Per Se Limit - Toke of the Town
Now we need to get the science on this and then we should project the costs of a 76% increase here in Colorado and present that data to the colorado legislature esp Steve King the Grand Junction uber-Dickbag that proposed HB12-117..

2. The 5 nanogram blood THC limit is a arbitrary number based on no actual science.
a. the science behind SB12-117 is flawed, many of the tests sighted are on mice, some of the few human tests are 30 plus years old, and or have as few as 11 subjects.
b. studies show marijuana does not have an unsafe impact on motorists. Marijuana And Actual Driving Performance most interestingly Why do the effects of marijuana appear to be so small? and also from
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION DOT HS 808 078 NOVEMBER 1993: MARIJUANA AND ACTUAL DRIVING PERFORMANCE EFFECTS OF THC ON DRIVING PERFORMANCE How do marijuana's effects on driving performance compare to those of drugs other than alcohol? "subjects under the influence of marijuana were less likely to engage in overtaking maneuvers, whereas those under the influence of alcohol showed the opposite tendency. Very importantly, our city driving study showed that drivers who drank alcohol over-estimated their performance quality whereas those who smoked marijuana under-estimated it. Perhaps as a consequence, the former invested no special effort for accomplishing the task whereas the latter did, and successfully. This evidence strongly suggests that alcohol encourages risky driving whereas THC encourages greater caution, at least in experiments. Another way THC seems to differ qualitatively from many other drugs is that the former users seem better able to compensate for its adverse effects while driving under the influence. Weil et al. (1968)"Epidemiological research has shown that THC is infrequently detected in the blood of fatally injured drivers as the only drug present. In most cases alcohol is also detected. " Of the many psychotropic drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful. Campaigns to discourage the use of marijuana by drivers are certainly warranted. But concentrating a campaign on marijuana alone may not be in proportion to the safety problem it causes. Gieringer's (1988)" and the NHTSA concluded in 1993 that: * The maximum road tracking impairment after the highest THC dose (300 ug/kg) was within a range of effects produced by many commonly used medicinal drugs and less than that associated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08g% in previous studies employing the same test. * It is not possible to conclude anything about a driver's impairment on the basis of his/her plasma concentrations of THC and THC-COOH determined in a single sample..." Study: Legalizing Marijuana Reduces Alcohol Consumption and Traffic Deaths
c. even the state's "expert" panel could not agree on the appropriate level Marijuana working group decides not to recommend specific THC driving limits - Denver News - The Latest Word
d. here is a professional take on the topic from the people whose money is on the line...
Auto Insurance Site Says Marijuana Users Are Safer Drivers
e. Tests currently are not able to differentiate between active THC, inactive THC that is not usable but is still in the blood, and other non-pschoactive components of Cannabis such as CDB and CBN.


3. This bill is discriminatory to a wide variety of patients.
a. marijuana travels in the body via the lipid (fat) system, thusly women patients are at an unfair elevated risk of DUID because their naturally elevated levels of body fat hold THC longer than very lean bodies do. This applies even more so to Obese persons of either gender, and obesity is often an unfortunate side effect of a variety of maladies that are being treated with MMJ in Colorado. As to date no scientific studies have been done to demonstrate different effects of THC lingering and breaking down in different physical body-types. furthermore studies done on female Marijuana SMOKERs showed that as long as 30 days after cessation of use of marijuana subjects had an average of 1 nanogram of THC in their blood.
b. Edibles are a non-pschoactive medicated product that can be very long lasting in the blood and would show up on tests many hours or days after the "effect" had worn off. many patients with chronic pain use edibles to maintain a baseline of pain relief but never experience a "high".
c. CBD and THC-A are non-pschoactive components of Cannabis that are very effective in pain treatment but will still show up as THC in the bloodstream.
d. THC-limit bill could ban many seniors and veterans from driving, activist says yet another group impacted in unfair numbers.

* please share and be there, at this point the actions of nobody else matter, only YOU can have an impact, and that YOU email your officals and show up to take a stand against SB12-117 does matter...

Regardless of whether you can attend the most effective way to fight back against SB12-117 is to send a letter to your elected offical detailing your objections. here is a link to the email address of every elected member of the Colorado legislature go ahead an email em all and lets show our numbers...
cindy.acree.house@state.co.us, irene.aguilar.senate@state.co.us, mark.barker.house@state.co.us, bob.bacon.senate@state.co.us, david.balmer.house@state.co.us, randy.baumgardner.house@state.co.us, jon.becker.house@state.co.us, don.beezley.house@state.co.us, betty.boyd.senate@state.co.us, laurabradford55@gmail.com, greg@gregbrophy.net, jpaul.brown.house@state.co.us, bill.cadman.senate@state.co.us, morgan.carroll.senate@state.co.us, edward.casso.house@state.co.us, kathleen.conti.house@state.co.us, don.coram.house@state.co.us, lois.court.house@state.co.us, brian@briandelgrosso.com, crisanta.duran.house@state.co.us, mferrandino@yahoo.com, rhonda.fields.house@state.co.us, randyfischer@frii.com, joyce.foster.senate@state.co.us, bob.gardner.house@state.co.us, deb.gardner.house@state.co.us, cheri.gerou@gmail.com, angela.giron.senate@state.co.us, kevin.grantham.senate@state.co.us, lucia.guzman.senate@state.co.us, millie.hamner.house@state.co.us, ted.harvey.senate@state.co.us, rollie.heath.senate@state.co.us, mary.hodge.senate@state.co.us, chris.holbert.house@state.co.us, senatorhudak@gmail.com, dl.hullinghorst.house@state.co.us, cheri.jahn.senate@state.co.us, mike.johnston.senate@state.co.us, repmattjones@gmail.com, janak.joshi.house@state.co.us, repkagan@gmail.com, john.kefalas.house@state.co.us, andy.kerr.house@state.co.us, james.kerr.house@state.co.us, keith@keithking.org, steve.king.senate@state.co.us, replabuda@yahoo.com, senatorlambert@comcast.net, pete.lee.house@state.co.us, claire.levy.house@state.co.us, larry.liston.house@state.co.us, marshalooper@gmail.com, kevin@kevinlundberg.com, tom@tommassey.org, beth.mccann.house@state.co.us, wes.mckinley.house@state.co.us, joe@joemiklosi.com, shawnmitch@aol.com, murrayhouse45@gmail.com, john.morse.senate@state.co.us, linda.newell.senate@gmail.com, jeanne.nicholson.senate@state.co.us, rep.nikkel@gmail.com, dan.pabon.house@state.co.us, sal.pace.house@state.co.us, cherylin.peniston.house@state.co.us, kpriola@gmail.com, robert.ramirez.house@state.co.us, senatorrenfroe@gmail.com, ellen.roberts.senate@state.co.us, su.ryden.house@state.co.us, sue.schafer.house@state.co.us, mark.scheffel.senate@state.co.us, gail.schwartz.senate@gmail.com, ray.scott.house@state.co.us, brandon@brandonshaffer.com, judy.solano.house@state.co.us, jerry@repsonnenberg.com, john.soper.house@state.co.us, nancyjspence@gmail.com, pat.steadman.senate@state.co.us, amy.stephens.house@state.co.us, ken.summers.house@state.co.us, spencer.swalm.house@state.co.us, keith.swerdfeger.house@state.co.us, libby.szabo.house@state.co.us, lotochtrop@aol.com, nancy.todd.house@state.co.us, max@maxtyler.us, glenn.vaad.house@state.co.us, edward.vigil.house@state.co.us, mark.waller.house@state.co.us, jean.white.senate@state.co.us, angela.williams.house@state.co.us, suzanne.williams.senate@state.co.us, roger.wilson.house@state.co.us, dave.young.house@state.co.us

That's a wall of text. They tried this last year. Can you summarize what happened?

Senate failed the bill publicly, then in a silent vote at the end of the session, passed it 18-17. Went to Judiciary Commitee, passed...on its way to the house then the Gov's desk.

wow this is absurd heavy smokers will most likely fail even if they are not impaired at the time. I don't condone driving under the influence of anything but this is just dumb.
im moving to do colorado in two days now im going to be paranoid to drive . Any word on if the house passed it?

Senate failed the bill publicly, then in a silent vote at the end of the session, passed it 18-17. Went to Judiciary Commitee, passed...on its way to the house then the Gov's desk.

This is a shame. Time to buy a bike. Any chance the house doesn't pass it?

Man that is one fucked up way to have a traffic stop drug test. I thought Colorado politicians were on top of things, but guess it lets you know that you can't take any freedom for granted. What's going to warrant a probable cause for pulling someone over under the "suspicion of being under the influence of cannabis?" I honestly hope they use the same list as alcohol and keep track of cannabis related traffic stops compared to alcohol related.

Not sure if this was addressed in the explanation of the bill, I kinda skimmed it, but is the procedure going to be as awkward as it seems? The cop takes you to county, you piss, and you might not of even have been under the influence. It's all up to the LEOs opinion.

Per se" means that. The officer already has to have suspicion of you being under the influence but that could include anything on the list of 50 different items including not having enough spit on your tongue. At that point the officer can take you down to the station not for a piss test, but for a blood test. If you are above 5ng/ml the results can be used to convict you of a DUI. As such if an officer decides to create reasonable suspicion and the test comes back even if you haven't smoked in the last day or two most regular smokers will test positive and after a long period without cannabis the body begins to release its stores making you potentially failed the test up to a month after you stop smoking. Email the Gov. there's a link on his website tell him to veto the bill that it's unfair and unjust remind him that we do not condone driving under the influence but that this bill would intentionally catch innocent people

Per se" means that. The officer already has to have suspicion of you being under the influence but that could include anything on the list of 50 different items including not having enough spit on your tongue. At that point the officer can take you down to the station not for a piss test, but for a blood test. If you are above 5ng/ml the results can be used to convict you of a DUI. As such if an officer decides to create reasonable suspicion and the test comes back even if you haven't smoked in the last day or two most regular smokers will test positive and after a long period without cannabis the body begins to release its stores making you potentially failed the test up to a month after you stop smoking. Email the Gov. there's a link on his website tell him to veto the bill that it's unfair and unjust remind him that we do not condone driving under the influence but that this bill would intentionally catch innocent people

And Cali outdoes Colorado again... Man I love this state but sometimes you have to slap yourself and wonder how the heck we got mmj and legalization on the ballot.

This is a large red state with large pockets of blue. First the sh*t with Fort Collins and now this.

Maybe Cali does have it right by just not implementing any regulation.

If you're going to be out smoking with friends, be careful and always have a designated drunk available to get you home.

Failed yesterday in the house. Used as a chip to block the civil unions bill. So good for smokers, bad for homosexuals.

Still has a chance to rear its head today but short of that it's dead until next session.

http://blogs.westwor...ivil_unions.php

good, CO is gonna have to get their shit together man, i really am looking forward to buyin some property in Delta County eventually, but that wont be so fun if they have a bunch of socialist laws about...

Update: Bill was resurrected in a special 2 day session of the legislation because of Hickenlooper's push for the Civil Unions bill.

On the second day, the "tie breaker" representative did not show up, concluding with a 17-17 tie that allowed the bill to die...again.

So, final nail in the coffin, at least until next session. THC-DUI per se bill is dead.

Remember Coloradoans: Vote YES on every Cannabis initiative this fall. That's 40, 64, and 70, as far as I know. All are attempting to dismantle prohibition.

Colorado is about to make history as the first state to up heave prohibitionist bollocks.