Marijuana Metabloites Are Not Enough!

There's good news regarding drugged driving and marijuana in the State of Michigan. Previously, a driver could be charged if any THC was found within your blood. This always seemed extremely unfair to me considering that THC has been found to stay in the body for a month or even longer. So if I got in an accident 3 weeks later I could still be found guilty of drugged driving.... justice at its finest! All kidding aside, the case People V Feezel now makes it more difficult to convict for drugged driving cases that involve marijuana. "Now, prosecutors will have to prove drivers had the actual narcotic or its active ingredient in their systems at the time they are alleged to have been driving while drugged," reported MLive.com.

The case involved a car accident in which a pedestrian was killed and the defendant was accused and charged with drugged driving. He was convicted by a jury for the following: Failing to stop at the scene of an accident that resulted in death, operating while intoxicated, and operating a motor vehicle with marijuana which is a schedule I controlled substance in his body causing death. As you can see these where some serious convictions. The defendants blood contained 6 nanograms of 11-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol. A nanogram is 1 billionth of a gram, so very very very small traces were found. It also turns out the VICTIM was intoxicated with a BAC of .268, well over the legal amount.

On one hand you have the victim, who was drunk driving, swaying in the middle of the road, had his back turned to oncoming traffic, and there was a rainstorm reducing visibility. On the other hand you have a driver with 6 nanograms of THC (insanely small amount) that hasn't used marijuana anytime recently. It was found by expert witnesses that the defendent who had almost non-existent amounts of THC would have had to be driving 10-15 mph to avoid the accident.

The case was obviously appealed and a took a few attempts to reach the Michigan Supreme Court. This decision doesn't give you the right to smoke and drive, but it will hopefully ensure that small remnants that have already worn off won't put you in jail.

Do you need a Michigan Marijuana Lawyer? Contact The Clark Law Office today @ 517-347-6900 for a free consultation regarding any legal marijuana issue you are facing.