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Drugged Driving Bill Won't Go Away For Lawmakers

DENVER (AP) -- Marijuana driving standards are becoming routine debates around the Colorado Capitol, with a drugged driving bill headed to the state Legislature for the third time in the last two years.

Gov. John Hickenlooper says it's "common sense" to have blood-level marijuana limits for drivers as an analogy to existing blood-alcohol limits. Hickenlooper added a marijuana-limit driving standard to a special session beginning Monday to address civil unions for same-sex couples.

The marijuana driving bill has stumped Colorado lawmakers before, and it may do so again. Marijuana activists who decry the proposed blood limit as unfair and a bad predictor of driver impairment say they're going to renew efforts to stop the bill.

The measure would set a limit of 5 nanograms of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, per milliliter of blood. It's already illegal to drive while impaired by marijuana or any drug, but police say a nanogram limit would aid law enforcement by setting a testable blood level to go along with officer observations about whether a driver is impaired. State toxicologists have said the 5 nanogram limit is more than fair as a standard for impairment.

But some marijuana activists point out that marijuana, unlike alcohol, is stored in body fat, so blood THC limits can remain elevated in some patients when they're not high. They say the blood limit sets a standard that could be unfairly applied, and they've packed legislative hearing rooms testifying against the plan.

Last year, lawmakers couldn't agree on a blood limit. Instead, they sent the question to a task force, but it couldn't decide on a fair standard, either. The measure returned to the Legislature this year. It passed the Democratic Senate, where it failed last year, and was headed for approval in the Republican House.

But the marijuana measure fell victim to a late-night standoff over a civil unions measure also pending in the House, killing it for the year.

Marijuana activists rejoiced -- until Hickenlooper announced Thursday that marijuana DUI standards would be added to the special session call.

The governor said that the standards make sense, comparing drugged driving to drinking and driving.

"Why on Earth would Hickenlooper choose this bill as one that has to be an emergency right now?" asked Jackie Edwards, a 59-year-old medical marijuana patient in Englewood who suffers from fibromyalgia and lung cancer and has testified against the driving standard.

Edwards calls it unnecessary: "I know when not to drive," she said.

But some of the strongest opponents to the marijuana driving bill say their third stand will be their last, and that lawmakers who want the matter settled will pass a driving standard.

"I don't think it has anything to do with the issue. It's an election year, and everybody's doing what they think will get them more votes," said Robin Hackett, owner of the BotanaCare dispensary in Northglenn.

By Kristen Wyatt, AP Writer(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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