Articles Posted in driving while high

A favorite tool for law enforcement in detecting drivers operating under the influence of alcohol, DUI checkpoints have long been effective in law enforcement netting arrests on busy holiday weekends such as Memorial Day and the 4th of July.  However, drivers would be remiss to believe that these checkpoints are present only to detect potential…

The announcement by the Federal Government that they intend to take cannabis off its schedule 1 classification seems logical. Considering that cannabis legalization has found its way to the desk of many governors, it was only a matter of time until marijuana, that has long shared the same classification as heroin and LSD, be classified as…

With the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts and Maine and the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana in Vermont and New Hampshire a new legal front has been established in determining how to measure an individual’s level of impairment when operating a motor vehicle.  The lack of specific scientific evidence as to how…

An officer needs probable cause  in order to be to search a vehicle without the owner’s consent.  Despite Vermont decriminalizing the possession of under an ounce of marijuana in 2013, the smell of marijuana alone still grants law enforcement the probable cause they need to request a search.  This reality was recently reinforced in Judge…

By most accounts, marijuana legalization is now considered a foregone conclusion in the State of Vermont. According to a recent Castleton State College Poll, 56 percent of Vermont adults now support legalization. Further confidence in legalization has been voiced by the Governor Peter Schumlin, Speaker of the House, Shap Smith, and Attorney General, William Sorrell. With…

Vermont lawmakers continue to struggle with finding the correct balance in prosecuting motorists who may be under the influence of marijuana or other drugs while operating a motor vehicle.  Vermont law enforcement has claimed that there is a saliva test that can be implemented in order to prove that a motorist has marijuana in their system.…