Your days of driving stoned & impaired could be numbered. According to reports, a California company called Hound Labs have created a marijuana breathalyzer that will reportedly be hitting the market in 2020.
Similar to the devices law enforcement uses to determine whether a driver is operating under the influence of alcohol, the forthcoming marijuana breathalyzers will be used to identify drivers who have recently smoked weed. The new breathalyzers will reportedly detect weed within three hours of consumption, which the developers have identified as the window in which drivers are most impaired by the drug.
Developers working on weed breathalyzers also hope to see the devices used in workplace drug tests. Currently, employers typically use urine tests, which can show traces of marijuana for as long as a month post-consumption. The breathalyzers will make it easier for employers to perform timely drug tests without unjustly punishing an employee for previous drug use.
“We have something right now called PBT which is used for alcohol, but it would be the same process we use to make a judgment to see if the driver is impaired by marijuana and to what level their impairment would be,” says Ofc. Patrick Hogan of Salisbury Police.
We’ll keep you posted if these breathalyzers hit the streets. Read more about them right here if interested.