Pennsylvania Bill Gives Medical Cannabis Patients DUI Protection

Cannabis News World

Aug 30

Pennsylvania Bill Gives Medical Cannabis Patients DUI Protection
High Times

Pennsylvania medical cannabis patients would receive some protection from being convicted for driving under the influence if a bill making its way through the state legislature is passed and signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf. The measure, Senate Bill 167, was approved last week by the Senate Transportation Committee with a vote of 13-0. If approved, the legislation sponsored by state Senator Camera Bartolotta would eliminate Pennsylvania's zero-tolerance policy for THC, which has been used without proof of impairment to penalize drivers who are registered medicinal cannabis patients. "Senate Bill 167 is critically needed to protect the medical cannabis community as the penalties for a controlled substance significantly escalate," Bartolotta told the Transportation Committee before last week's vote. Pennsylvania has more than 700,000 registered patients who have qualified to use medicinal cannabis since the medical marijuana program launched in 2018. However, the state's zero-tolerance drug law puts patients at risk, whether they are under the influence of cannabis or not. "Under current law, medical cannabis patients can be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted – even if they're not impaired," said Bartolotta. "SB167 will treat the medical cannabis patient similarly to one using a prescription narcotic by requiring proof that the motorist or patient is impaired and unable to safely operate a motor vehicle." Jailed for a Broken Taillight in Pennsylvania State Senator Wayne Langerholc, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said that under the state's current DUI legislation, medicinal cannabis patients who are pulled over by police for something as innocuous as a broken taillight could be given a ticket simply because they have a medical marijuana identification card. "I've read through a lot of different law review articles on this and … I think this kind of takes a novel approach, maybe a groundbreaking approach to address this,"…