Colorado Officials Ask Marijuana Budtenders To Step Up And Help Inform Consumers About Driving Laws Ahead Of 4/20 (Op-Ed)

“Consumers may not listen to CDOT, but you are seen as a highly trusted source of information. It’s time for the industry to speak for itself to help keep its customers safe.”

By Sam Cole, Colorado Department of Transportation

Many cannabis consumers still don’t believe driving high is dangerous, and concerningly, some think they drive better when they’re high.

As a traffic safety communicator for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), my goal is to get accurate and reliable information into the hands of cannabis consumers so they can make well-informed decisions for themselves.

If you work in the cannabis industry, we need your help. Consumers may not listen to CDOT, but you are seen as a highly trusted source of information. It’s time for the industry to speak for itself to help keep its customers safe.

Three years ago, we launched an online course for budtenders to teach them about the laws, science and consequences of driving high—so that they, in turn, could share information with dispensary customers who want to know more about cannabis-impaired driving. Through the course, we’ve collected feedback about the information budtenders found valuable, surprising and impactful. We’ve gathered the top takeaways below, distilled from nearly 1,000 responses.

We hope you review this information and share it to help people make their own decision to never drive impaired on cannabis, alcohol or any other impairing drug. We want everyone to enjoy this 420. And the next one. And the one after that.

It takes longer than you think for the impairing effects of cannabis to wear off.

Course participants expressed their surprise at how long the impairing effects can last, and believed that the general public is largely unaware of this as well.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) provides the following guidelines based on an in-depth review of medical and academic research:

• The safest choice is to avoid driving after using any form of marijuana product.

• Consumption method matters:

  • Wait at least six hours after smoking 35 mg of THC.

  • Wait at least eight hours after eating or drinking up to 18 mg of THC. The typical THC edible in Colorado is portioned at 10 mg THC (e.g., one gummy).

• If you are an infrequent consumer, 10 mg or more of THC is strongly associated with impairment that can affect driving, biking and other safety-sensitive activities.

Many factors play a role in determining how long the impairing effects of THC take to wear off. When in doubt, don’t take the risk.

Cannabis DUIs are real.

Responses showed a high level of awareness that you can get a DUI for driving impaired by cannabis. However, many were unaware that a cannabis DUI carries the same penalties and financial burden of an alcohol DUI in Colorado.

Many were unaware of the facts behind “legal limits” and determining impairment.

Hundreds of responses said information on the “legal limits” and how law enforcement determines roadside impairment was new and helpful.

• The “legal limit” that indicates cannabis impairment is 5ng of active THC per ml of blood in Colorado. This blood test happens post-arrest as part of the evidence-collection process. Law enforcement tests for active Delta-9 THC (not residual, metabolized, inactive THC, like an employer might test for).

• Impaired drivers in Colorado can be arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) for substantial impairment or for Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) for being impaired to the slightest degree by cannabis, alcohol, or a combination of substances. This is a determination made by the law enforcement officer through the Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST).

• You can still get a DUI even if you have a medical marijuana card.

When mixing alcohol and cannabis, you can be under the “legal limit” and still be at risk of a DUI.

Respondents also expressed surprise that you are at risk of a DUI even if you’re under the “legal limit” for Blood Alcohol Content and THC. Cannabis combined with alcohol significantly increases impairment.

Learn more about the dangers, impairing effects and consequences of driving high by visiting DriveHighDUI.com. Stay safe this 420 and choose to never drive high.

Sam Cole is the traffic safety communications manager at CDOT. He has over 20 years of experience working on public health initiatives as a director, spokesperson, trainer, liaison and communication expert. At CDOT, he oversees marketing, public relations and communications on the agency’s safety campaigns, including implementing the first cannabis-impaired driving prevention campaign when recreational cannabis was first legalized in Colorado.

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