With marijuana use rising and legalization of the drug happening in many states, police are pulling more and more people over every day that have THC in their system. Although driving under the influence of THC is illegal, police have a hard time determining whether or not someone actually has the drug in their system. Right now, they have suspected drivers do a sobriety test, like walking in a straight line, or do a blood test. The sobriety tests are not always straight forward and the blood tests take up to 24 hours to get results. This delays arrests and puts high drivers back on the roads. Many officers are hoping that a marijuana breathalyzer, similar to an alcohol breathalyzer, will soon be available.

Their hopes could be reality soon enough. Researchers at Washington State University are working on developing a breathalyzer that can detect THC. This tool will be very helpful to all official who suspect a driver may be impaired. However, there are some things to work out, like how much THC present in your system would be grounds for an arrest.

This new tool may also be incentive for impaired drivers to stay off the road. Whether a driver is under the influence of alcohol, narcotics, or THC, he or she is putting others in danger. If a driver smokes marijuana, they could think twice about driving if they know there will be consequences.