Indopedia All Things Marijuana
A monumental ruling in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday declared that police officers are unable to testify whether a driver was under the influence of marijuana while operating a vehicle based on the results of a field sobriety test (FST).
According to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts, “Unlike alcohol, marijuana does not act as a general central nervous system depressant, impairing functions throughout the body. Nonetheless, the primary psychoactive substance in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is known to have an impact on several functions of the brain that are relevant to driving ability, including the capacity to divide one’s attention and focus on several things at the same time, balance, and the speed of processing information.”
The court determined the psychoactive effects of cannabis vary too greatly from person to person for an officer to make a confident decision about the motor vehicle operator’s level of inebriation.
“A police officer may not suggest, however, on direct examination that an individual’s performance on an FST established that the individual was under the influence of marijuana. Likewise, an officer may…
