In 2012, Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved a change to the state constitution that allowed the sale and personal use of marijuana for recreational use. Sales began in 2014. Since then, the state has issued more than 2,900 commercial marijuana licenses, 481 of which went to retail dispensaries. As a result, as one media outlet noted, Colorado has more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks, McDonald’s, and 7-Eleven locations combined.

But while it is legal to use, it is still illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana. Tragically, too many drivers seem to be ignoring that and putting lives in danger by smoking and driving. If he was injured in a car accident due to a drunk driver, a personal injury attorney can help.

Fatal accidents on the rise

According to an analysis by The Denver Post, the number of drivers involved in fatal car accidents who later tested positive for marijuana has increased every year since legalization. Higher levels of the drug are also showing up in drivers who have tested positive. Last year, in one extreme example, a driver tried the legal limit of marijuana 22 times.

Between 2013 and 2016, Colorado saw a 40 percent increase in the number of traffic fatalities overall, reaching 880 last year, according to figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The data also reveals that alcohol-related deaths have been on the rise, reaching 17 percent. However, the number of drivers who have tested positive for marijuana has increased by nearly 150 percent and now accounts for 10 percent of all fatal car accidents.

While officials are quick to point out that this dramatic increase in marijuana-related traffic deaths cannot be conclusively linked to legalization, the numbers are concerning.

“Unlike alcohol, THC [the active ingredient in marijuana] it can remain detectable in the bloodstream for days or weeks, with any impairment disappearing within hours,” Taylor West, former deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, told The Denver Post. “So all those numbers really What we’re told is that since legal adult sales began, more people are using cannabis and then at some point…driving a car.”

proof is a problem

That is the problem facing state and local governments. Cannabis use is skyrocketing, but law enforcement officials are still struggling to find a way to definitively test drivers. There is no marijuana breathalyzer or blood test that police can use to test drivers. There is evidence verifying delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, but there is no universally accepted standard that indicates who is truly affected, despite frantic efforts by scientists to establish one.

Colorado uses a THC blood test that police can use to reveal what is known as “presumptive” impairment. The permissible inference is set at five nanograms of THC per milliliter. Alcohol breaks down quickly in the body, making it easier to test. THC, on the other hand, can stay much longer in the body. In fact, heavy users who then abstain from using marijuana may still test positive a month or more later.

At least two private companies are researching breath detection devices, but scientists estimate they are months or years away from reaching the market. As a result, Colorado has begun training its officers on what to look for during traffic stops to decide if a driver is impaired.