Ithaca DWI Lawyer: 420 is More Than a Day, It's a Movement!

It's always 420 in Ithaca, NY
from the weedblog

My son reminded me that today is 420, as in April 20 and I should be mindful. It's 2017, and to me this 420 means our country is just coming to terms with the usefulness of marijuana.

Can THC bring people a better life? 


Will the increasing use and acceptance of THC (marijuana) come with difficult challenges?

In 2017 the United States of Marijuana is Having Growth Pains

With some 28 states now having some form of legalized marijuana more people are being exposed to the benefits of it's use. There are also some people who vilify this plant, and then there are those who decide to partake in it's benefits.

We are struggling as a nation with three main problems or issues with THC:

1. There is NO consistency of law state to state regarding it's use, cultivation, or sale.
2. There is NO consistency of law state to state regarding DWAI marijuana.
3. There is still federal law which classifies THC as a Schedule II substance along with LSD and Heroin.

People are Confused about What they can do, where they can smoke, and when they can drive? 

In some states growing marijuana is legal. In some states smoking marijuana is legal. In some states using pot for medical reasons is legal. Some states even allow recreational use and others see any use as illegal.

All regulated and prescribed drugs are allowed to be moved and taken from state to state exempt fro marijuana. We still cannot bring our medical marijuana to a non-marijuana state. We can't have it in our possession in that state, open (exposed) or closed, even with a prescription. We can't use it in a state that prohibits it's use.

Imagine using your marijuana in a legal state and then a few days later going to a non-legal state and driving. If that state is a metabolite DWAI state and you're stopped driving you are facing a lot of problems. Worse than a metabolite state is a metabolite state that requires NO impaired driving, they call that an illegal per se marijuana law.

No Impaired Driving But Marijuana in Your System = Guilty of DUI Marijuana

From the Evergreen Defenders
Washington State DUI Lawyers

Pennsylvania is one of those states where just the presence of an illegal drug in your system while driving makes you GUILTY of DUI drugs. Crazy as that sounds, this is the law for that state. Imagine you are a Californian traveling to Philadelphia and get pulled over for that tail light? Your prior days of smoking place you in great jeopardy of license loss and a whirlwind of court proceedings.

Some states like NYS have two thresholds: active THC delta-9 substance, and impaired driving while other states like Washington and Florida require merely impaired driving.





We still have a long road ahead of us with marijuana being accepted. Until the federal government places their stamp of approval I think we will all continue to have headaches. I believe federal acceptance would eliminate the state to state inconsistency as it did when the states all decided on a alcohol DWI/DUI limit.