DENVER – La Plata and other counties in Colorado are unable to track arrests for driving under the influence of marijuana, despite a limit set by the Legislature aimed at curbing driving while stoned.
The Colorado Legislature in 2013 set marijuana impairment for driving at 5 nanograms of THC. While there is no separate law for marijuana DUI, the general DUI statute has a subsection which allows a blood test to determine marijuana impairment.
Todd Risberg, the district attorney for La Plata County in the 6th Judicial District, said the current system used to track DUI arrests uses charge codes that correspond to different crimes. DUI uses the same charge code, whether it is based on alcohol, marijuana or other drugs.
“I cannot search that system for only marijuana DUIs because all DUIs will be retrieved,” Risberg said.
While there is a separate charging code for DUI per se, which is driving with a blood-alcohol concentration above the legal limit, there is no per se crime for marijuana and no distinct charging code.
Risberg has been discussing the issue with other prosecutors across the state, requesting a system that creates a separate charge code for marijuana DUI. The issue is that without the data to backup the arrests, officials can’t determine whether stoned driving is a significant problem.
“It’s difficult to make evidence-based decisions when the evidence does not exist,” he said. “We don’t have the resources to develop a detailed tracking system or staff time available to enter data beyond our current systems.”
Risberg could offer only anecdotal evidence on whether marijuana DUIs have been a problem in La Plata County. So far, he said there have been few marijuana DUIs.
In the meantime, the Durango Police Department is treating all forms of impairment the same.
“Do we have a problem with impaired drivers? Yes. Are some of those impaired by marijuana? Yes. Is it a problem? Yes,” said Lt. Darrell L. Robertson, spokesman for the Durango Police Department.
“Would it help to track? I would assume it would. ... ” Robertson said. “The thing is that it’s probably been an effort, more or less, not to separate it out because we’re trying to get impaired drivers off the road, and initially, what they’re impaired by is not necessarily the issue. It’s the fact that they’re impaired.”