Dr Minkovich in the Bucks County Courier Times
“I am a certifying physician for the PA Medical Marijuana Program and I'm concerned about a current policy that potentially affects all medical marijuana (MMJ) patients in Pennsylvania.
We have what's referred to as a "zero tolerance" DUI law in Pennsylvania that is not evidence-based and puts medical cannabis patients at risk. Essentially, as an MMJ patient, if I am pulled over/suspected of being intoxicated while driving/involved in a car accident/etc. and am taken to a hospital for urine or serum drug testing, a positive screen for THC metabolites can lead to my prosecution and conviction for DUI, even though I may not have been impaired at all.
It is well understood that THC metabolites may persist in the blood or urine of regular cannabis users for days, week, and months, and, as such, this type of testing does not reliably indicate impairment and does not reliably indicate recent use. When it comes to cannabis, a field sobriety test is an appropriate method of screening for intoxication; lab tests are not.
There is currently a bill in the PA Senate Transportation Committee called SB167 that would rectify this issue in the law. In its current form, it is a short and sweet, non-controversial bill — less than three pages long. The Senate Transportation Committee is expected to hold a hearing on this bill on Tuesday Sept. 21 at 11 a.m.
(You can find the text of the bill here: https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2021&sind=0&body=S&type=B&bn=0167)
I'll be contacting all of the members of the Senate Transportation Committee and asking them to support this bill. I encourage my fellow Pennsylvanians to also reach out. Here are the senators in that committee. You can click on a Senator’s name and then message them through their individual webpage:
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/cteeInfo/Index.cfm?Code=19&CteeBody=S&mobile_choice=suppress
Dr. Jennifer Minkovich is a Medical Cannabis Physician and the founder of The MMJ Advocate Doc, a Richboro-based practice that helps people with qualifying medical conditions get certified to obtain medical cannabis in Pennsylvania.”