PA Lawmaker Fights Unfair DUI Laws: Takes Drug Test To Prove THC In Bloodstream Doesn't Equal Impairment

A Pennsylvania lawmaker took a drug test to prove that having THC in the bloodstream cannot necessarily be equated with being impaired, reported 6abc Action News.

State Rep. Chris Rabb (D), who is behind a push to amend the law that requires proof of impairment for DUI and cannabis, is a medical marijuana patient himself, using CBD tinctures as a sleep aid.

Rabb took a drug test in February, over 12 hours after he consumed a third of a dropper.

"I feel fine to do anything because I'm not impaired," he said. "I wake up feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with no symptoms."

After witnessing a murder in 2016, Rabb was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which led him to seek a medical marijuana card.

Considering that Pennsylvania and neighboring Delaware have enacted zero-tolerance laws, those who use medical marijuana risk severe consequences if caught driving with traces of cannabis in their system.

Under the current state law, over 700,000 medical marijuana patients face arrest, prosecution and conviction for consuming their medicine while operating a motor vehicle.

While opponents of efforts such as Rabb's stress that marijuana and driving are a dangerous combination, the drug test results only proved the lawmaker's point.

"Said I was full of cannabis," Rabbs said. "And I've been told I am full of a lot of things (laughs), but I never saw a test that said I had cannabis."

Meanwhile, in June, a  measure to protect Pennsylvania medical marijuana users from being charged with driving under the influence was unanimously approved by the Senate Transportation Committee.

The legislation from Sen. Camera Bartolotta sought to make medical cannabis equal to any other prescription narcotic, requiring proof of impairment of the person's ability to drive in order to be charged with DUI.

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