Field sobriety tests don't work for marijuana, SJC rules

BOSTON — Field sobriety tests cannot be used in court against someone accused of driving under the influence of marijuana, according to a new ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, the court decided police officers may not testify in court about the ‘results’ of a field sobriety test geared toward determining a person’s alcohol intoxication. However, they are allowed to testify as to the person’s characteristics during a traffic stop.

Citing the lack of a scientific consensus on the effectiveness of field sobriety tests on people who have consumed marijuana, the decision said it would not be proper for those tests to be used to determine whether a person is under the influence of marijuana.

“The SJC is now saying based on the science, the standard field sobriety test that we use for alcohol which we have used in the past for marijuana don't correlate with the impairment side of it,” Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael, an outspoken recreational marijuana opponent, said.

MORE: Marijuana Mile: Driving test highlights challenges for Mass. lawmakers

In the decision, the SJC wrote the jurors are permitted to use common sense in looking at the evidence. The decision doesn’t exclude officers from conducting field sobriety tests, but does say they can’t definitively answer the question.

“We can't have officers coming in saying ‘I think this’ or ‘this seems to indicate that someone is high on marijuana.’ The court wanted to make sure that the evidence that was coming in court was supported by the scientific community,” attorney Michael Delsignore said.

The case on appeal involved an officer conducting a traffic stop and asking the driver to submit to field sobriety tests, the results of which the Supreme Judicial Court has ruled must be omitted from the trial.

Some towns, including Walpole, have a drug recognition expert that is trained to search for signs of impairment. Chief Carmichael said that even with this ruling, it is important that anyone who uses marijuana does not get behind the wheel of a car.

You can read the full opinion here.

Cox Media Group