“You don’t have to be high to be convicted,” Rowland said.
Blaise Katter, the president and policy chair for the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this year that this is because Ohio’s law enforcement tests motorists for the compound carboxy-THC, an inactive residual compound that can be found in a person’s system after their body breaks down delta-9 THC, the psychoactive compound within marijuana.
“It is unanimously understood by every scientific expert on the subject that carboxy-THC is completely inactive with no psychoactive properties whatsoever,” Katter said. However, carboxy-THC stays in the system for up to a month, and the mere presence of the compound doesn’t necessarily point to impaired driving.
“As it stands today, an individual who legally consumed marijuana days, weeks and even months prior to getting behind the wheel of a car could be found guilty of OVI in Ohio even if there is zero evidence of driving impairment,” Katter said.
Senate Bill 55 would eliminate the state’s current standards that focus on inactive compounds in a suspected impaired motorists’ system and instead direct Ohio law enforcement to test for more indicative compounds.
“Basically, what the bill does is, we’re looking to test active metabolites to show more recent use of marijuana,” Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, the primary sponsor of the bill, explained to his colleagues on the Senate floor.
Manning admitted that the science of testing for THC compounds is not perfect and said S.B. 55 reflects that reality. The bill states that a motorist would be inferred as guilty if a urine test showed at least 25 nanograms of delta-9 THC per milliliter; or if a blood test showed at least two but less than five nanograms of delta-9 THC per milliliter; or if a saliva test showed a concentration of at least five nanograms of delta-9 THC.
The motorist could argue this inference in court under the law, Manning said.
However, S.B. 55 would also set a delta-9 THC limit that, if found in a motorist’s system, would make them automatically guilty of operating a vehicle under the influence. The bill’s proposed standard is five nanograms per milliliter of blood.
Aside from unanimous support from Ohio Senators, S.B. 55 also received plaudits from the ACLU of Ohio, whose chief lobbyist Gary Daniels described it as “such a noticeable improvement over current law” during committee.
The bill received repeated push back from the organization DUID Victim Voices. Founder Ed Wood argued that S.B. 55’s would-be standards would result in a “pathetically low” conviction rate for motorists suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana.
The Dayton Daily News recently reported that a study by researchers at Wright State University found that about four in 10 drivers killed in automobile crashes in Montgomery County over a nearly six-year period had “active” THC in their systems.
S.B. 55 will receive further testimony and debate in the Ohio House, where it awaits action from the House Judiciary Committee.
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Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
