The Washington state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people can be cited for driving under the influence for driving while high.
A Washington State Patrol trooper pulled over Fraser in July 2017 after seeing him speeding, driving alone in an HOV lane, changing lanes erratically and cutting off other drivers, according to the trooper.
When the trooper approached the car, he noticed Fraser was wearing an employee badge from a local cannabis dispensary, which Fraser then removed.According to the trooper, Fraser said he had smoked “half a day” earlier but that he no longer felt impaired. After performing several field tests, the trooper arrested Fraser on suspicion of DUI.
A test later showed Fraser had a THC blood concentration of 9.4 nanograms per milliliter, with a margin of error of 2.5. That put his THC blood concentration above the state’s 5 ng/ml limit. Fraser argued in court that the limit was not correlated to any real measure of impairment and was therefore arbitrary, vague and unconstitutional. He backed his opinion with testimony from a doctor who said the effect of a given level of THC can vary significantly from person to person, depending on body fat and frequency of cannabis use.