Pullman, Wa. (CBS SEATTLE) —Researchers at Washington State University are developing a breath test for marijuana that would be similar to current alcohol detection methods, but would indicate levels of THC active in a driver’s system.
Herbert Hill, a chemistry professor at Washington State University, is working with a research team at the university to create a device that can detect THC — the chemical behind marijuana’s mind-altering effects — on a person’s breath. Officers in Washington state and Colorado, where marijuana is legal, would no longer have to use blood tests to determine if the driver of a vehicle has been using the drug.
“We believe, at least initially, that it would lower the false positives that an officer would have,” Hill told the Tacoma News Tribune. “They would have a higher level of confidence in making an arrest.”
