Another Company Develops Weed Breathalyzers, Marijuana Pardons In CA, WI Lawmaker's Comments On Legalization

MA Co. To Produce Marijuana Breathalyzers To Help Police Detect Those Driving While High

Massachusetts has taken the issue of driving under the cannabis influence seriously.

On the heels of the Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) revealing plans to educate teens about driving under the influence of cannabis, marking the first-ever legal marijuana state in the nation to take the lead on this important issue, Vox Biomedical, a Bedford-based company revealed that in collaboration with Cambridge's Draper technology and a team of scientists led by Dr. Scott Lukas at McClean Hospital, it works on a new device that can detect cannabis intoxication.

"With this device, it goes directly from breath onto the device and we get a readout on the computer," Dr. Lukas told WBZ-TV. "We can actually see those constituents, all the different compounds that happen to be in their lungs at that time."

Lukas explained that the VOX marijuana breath analyzer would be at officers' disposal to use them like existing alcohol tests.

"The whole point of this is to avoid the need of having to collect a blood sample, but instead, we can get a breath sample," he said. "And we get a result back in about 30 minutes right now, as opposed to 5 to 10 days."

Meanwhile, scientists have been working on THC breathalyzers for quite some time, as evidenced in a recently published paper in the journal Organic Letters. The UCLA organic chemistry professor Neil Garg and researchers from the UCLA startup ElectraTect Inc. made significant progress in developing a handheld tool that can identify THC in breath after an individual has smoked weed.

Gov Newson Grants Pardons Ten Marijuana Convictions

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has issued ten pardons on Friday.

Among those pardoned are Lucas Beltran Dominguez, charged in 2008 with transporting or selling marijuana and possession of cannabis for sale and Santiago Lopez, sentenced in the early 2000s for possession of marijuana for sale.

"The California Constitution gives the Governor the authority to grant pardons," the press release issued by the Gov.'s office reads. "The Governor regards clemency as an important part of the criminal justice system that can incentivize accountability and rehabilitation and increase public safety by removing counterproductive barriers to successful reentry. A pardon may also remove unjust collateral consequences of conviction, such as deportation and permanent family separation."

The move follows President Joe Biden's recent announcement regarding pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession.

"No one should be in jail just for using marijuana," Biden said in October, as his move is poised to impact over 6,500 individuals with prior convictions for simple weed possession and thousands more under D.C. law.

WI GOP Lawmaker Says Full Legalization Could Jeopardize MMJ Bill

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers recently revealed his intentions to include the legalization of recreational cannabis in the budget he plans to put before lawmakers early next year.

However, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) thinks it's not a good idea.

The GOP lawmaker said that insisting on a broader reform instead of passing a bipartisan measure to legalize medical cannabis could only drive away those who partially support the policy change.

"If he really wants to generate consensus, he needs to get off his liberal bandwagon and start by saying where can we generate consensus, and that's not by pitching the farthest extreme position," Vos told WisPolitics.com last week, adding that Evers's idea could demotivate "people like me and a whole lot of others out of saying this is not just a gateway to recreational marijuana."

Interestingly, Evers himself is slightly skeptical of the move and believes that medical marijuana legislation holds a better chance of getting bipartisan approval.

"There's an increasing number of people in the Legislature that might be willing to go towards medicinal marijuana," said Evers, who defeated his Republican challenger Tim Michels in this year's midterms. "If the Legislature can rally around medicinal marijuana, I certainly would sign that bill."

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