RELEASE: Bipartisan Gottheimer Amendment Passes, Will Study Ways to Determine if a Driver is Impaired by Marijuana

Apr 01, 2022
Press

Department of Transportation Study

Will Help Law Enforcement Keep Roads Safe

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Friday, April 1, 2022, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer successfully offered a bipartisan amendment on the House floor to the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, to help protect our families from the dangers of intoxicated drivers by investing in a study on technologies and methods that law enforcement can use to determine whether a driver is impaired by marijuana.

The study will be conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the Department of Transportation (DOT).

It’s been reported that marijuana significantly impairs judgment, motor coordination, and reaction time, and studies have found a direct relationship between blood THC concentration and impaired driving ability. Drivers under the influence of marijuana regularly cause traffic collisions and marijuana is the illicit drug most frequently found in the blood of drivers who have been involved in vehicle crashes, including fatal ones.

For a marijuana test to be effective on drivers, it must detect recent cannabis use and also prove that cannabis in a person’s system impaired his or her driving. There is not yet a cannabis breathalyzer that does both of those things because, unlike alcohol, cannabis can stay in the body long after their “high” has worn off.

“It is critical that our law enforcement officers are able to determine if recent use of cannabis is directly impacting a person’s ability to operate a vehicle. The fact is that we need more widely available technologies to determine whether drivers are impaired by marijuana and my amendment invests in a study to do just that,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer. “We need to make sure that our law enforcement officers have all the resources and tools necessary to keep roads and highways safe for our families.” 

Watch Gottheimer’s remarks on the House floor here.

###

Recent Posts


Oct 1, 2024
Press

RELEASE: Gottheimer Statement on the Second Direct Iranian Attack Against Israel

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, October 1, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) released the following statement on the second direct Iranian attack against Israel: “Today, the Iranian regime launched a second major direct attack against our critical ally in the Middle East, Israel — putting innocent civilians in harm’s way. Since October 7, Iran, the world’s […]



Sep 30, 2024
Press

RELEASE: Ahead of the Election, Gottheimer Announces Two New Bills to Protect Poll Workers

Above: Gottheimer announcing new legislation to protect poll workers. FORT LEE, NJ — Today, September 30, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), announced two new pieces of legislation to protect poll workers from increased threats of violence, harassment, and intimidation. This work expands on Gottheimer’s “Election Integrity Strategy” which includes his bipartisan “Unity Commitment” which commits […]



Sep 26, 2024
Press

RELEASE: Gottheimer, Hill Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect the Credit Scores of American Hostages & Wrongful Detainees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and French Hill (AR-2) introduced bipartisan legislation, the Fair Credit for American Hostages Act, to safeguard the credit score of American hostages or wrongful detainees. According to a report from the Foley Foundation, hostages routinely face a “ruined credit stemming from unpaid debts and fines incurred during captivity.” After being held hostage or […]