DAYTON — Dispensaries in the Miami Valley will soon be selling recreational marijuana.
News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson spoke with an attorney. She will have his concerns about officers stopping impaired drivers LIVE on News Center 7 at 11.
Charles M Rowland II, a Dayton DUI/OVI defense attorney, said the Ohio OVI laws need an update now that recreational marijuana is legal.
>> RELATED: Local dispensaries prepare for ‘opening day’ of recreational marijuana sales
“People who use marijuana regularly have fat cells in their body that store a metabolite,” Rowland said.
As long as the metabolite is in your system, Ohio law says that you are under the influence of marijuana.
“Assume you smoke marijuana or you ingest an edible of marijuana, you’re not high, you’re driving responsibly and god forbid something happens, and you hurt someone in an accident, that could still be used as evidence of impairment,” Rowland said.
Rowland said to have someone who is not impaired by the use of cannabis be charged as if they were drunk is in his opinion “Incomprehensible, awful” and something he thinks lawyers need to address.
He said bills are pending in the legislature to look at the way officers test for marijuana impairment, but for now, Rowland said to not put yourself in a position to be suspected of being impaired behind the wheel.
Maj. Jackson with the Riverside Police Department suggested anyone who plans to buy recreational marijuana should wait until they get home, not in their car, to open their purchases.
News Center 7 will continue to update this story.
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