Marijuana
Credit: NIDA

Senator Hill’s SB 65 Makes Marijuana Use in Vehicles an Infraction

September 13, 2017 - SACRAMENTO – Smoking or consuming marijuana in any form while driving or riding in vehicles will be specifically prohibited by law in California come January 1 under a bill by Senator Jerry Hill that Governor Brown signed Monday.

“This bill simply makes our laws on using marijuana while driving or riding in cars consistent with our laws on consuming alcohol while driving or riding in vehicles,” Senator Hill, D-San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, said today.

SB 65 enhances Proposition 64, the recreational marijuana initiative, which makes it illegal to have an open container of pot in a vehicle but does not address use of marijuana products by drivers or passengers.

The bill adds marijuana consumption to the law prohibiting alcohol consumption, which is an infraction currently punishable with a base fine of $70.

In 2012, the California Office of Traffic Safety released a study of weekend nighttime drivers that found more California drivers tested positive for marijuana than alcohol.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 2007 to 2014 the number of nighttime weekend drivers in the U.S. with marijuana in their system increased nearly 50 percent.

In 2015, 21 percent of the 31,166 fatal crashes in the U.S. involved at least one driver who tested positive for drugs after the incident — up from 12 percent in 2005, the NHTSA also found.

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Resources:
Senate Bill 65 Text:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB65
Source: Senator Jerry Hill