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Some will swear that marijuana has merit for motorists. Others fear impairment of any kind, at any level. We’re pretty terrified of teen drivers, especially those with cell phones and hangovers, but we’ll leave it to the government to intervene on this great debate. 

Driving while stoned would become much more dangerous under a bill introduced last month by a SoCal Assemblywoman: It would result in an automatic DUI offense.  

The proposed bill would tag this “offense” onto the section of the Vehicle Code that addresses drunk driving. The new section states any level of “cannabinoids or synthetic cannabinoid compound” found in a driver’s blood or urine up to three hours after a traffic stop would equate to a DUI, according to AB 2552, which was introduced by Assemblywoman Norma Torres (D-Pomona).

But wait – doesn’t cannabinoids remain in the body for days or weeks after consumption? True that, according to California NORML: If passed, Torres’ bill would criminalize outright operation of a motor vehicle by any marijuana user. So hopefully tokers know enough beer-drinkers skilled enough to stay under 0.08 to designated-driver them to work.

Torres introduced the bill quietly: No press release accompanied AB 2552’s Feb. 27 unveiling. 

Torres is a former 911 dispatcher for the LAPD and mayor of Pomona serving her second term in Sacramento, and is running for reelection this year. Her financial backers include booze, cops, Indians, and media. More specifically, tribal committees, NBC Universal, Millercoors, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and the Wine Institute, Anheuser Busch, all of which contributed $1,000 or more to Torres’s reelection campaign, according to records.

Word of the bill’s existence broke over the weekend among the marijuana community: NORML issued a press release on Saturday, and union organizers pledged to fight the measure with “EVERYTHING we have,” according to Dan Rush, national director of the medical cannabis and hemp division of United Food and Commercial Workers. The union is also fighting a similar bill in Colorado, Rush said.