News

Mass. police say OUI marijuana tough to measure, unlike OUI alcohol

BOSTON — State leaders and police are preparing for laws that will be needed if a ballot question legalizing marijuana is approved this fall.

Penalties for operating under the influence of pot are similar to OUI liquor, but there is one big difference.

Police tell FOX25's Political Reporter Sharman Sacchetti there is no set limit or standard test for measuring marijuana use.

“It's very difficult in Massachusetts to get convictions on OUI alcohol never mind OUI drugs, it's extremely difficult for OUI drugs,” Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael said.

Carmichael went to Colorado with a group of senators studying marijuana legalization earlier this year.

He brought back several food items cooked with marijuana, called edibles, back in them. He says they have a high concentration of THC, the chemical responsible for getting pot users high.

In Colorado they have set OUI marijuana limits at five nanograms, but Carmichael told FOX25 that Massachusetts does not have enough drug recognition experts to measure this.

“I just came back thinking, I hope this doesn't happen in Massachusetts,” he said.

Jim Borghesani works with the Campaign to Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol. He says the measurable limit is a crucial factor for enforcing OUI charges.

“We wish that there was a metric like there is for alcohol, .08 percent. It's a clear metric. Drop below that and you can't be charged,” Borghesani said.

But even with that, Borghesani and others are pushing for a ballot question on legalization.

“We're spending huge amounts of money to fight a substance that is less dangerous than alcohol, less toxic than alcohol, less addictive than alcohol,” he said.

In order for marijuana legalization to be on the ballot this fall, advocates need to gather more than 10,000 signatures by June 22.