UBC develops marijuana breathalyzer

[DocM]

At the least, Michigan law already doesn't distinguish between alcohol, marijuana or medication impaired driving - even over the counter meds like benadryl.  They take no prisoners here wrt impaired driving.

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/309450.php

 

UBC develops marijuana breathalyzer

 

The smell of your breath is the science behind a new device that will determine if you're too stoned to be behind the wheel.

 

UBC Okanagan engineering professor Mina Hoorfar has developed a handheld device, known as a microfluidic breath analyzer that can detect the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in a person's breath. THC is the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

 

"It's very easy to test for THC as it is a big molecule that stays in your breath for a long time," says Hoorfar, recently named UBC Okanagan's researcher of the year. "There is a period of 12 hours after you have consumed THC when it can still be detected in your breath."

THC also stays in the blood and in saliva. However, roadside testing involving blood analysis or spit tests is not an easy process, and results are not immediate. With Hoorfar's device - about the size of two fingers together - a law enforcement officer can determine within seconds whether a person is impaired.

The device costs about $15 to manufacture and is Bluetooth-enabled so data can be collected using a cellphone.

 

"This is a tool not just for the police, but perhaps more for self-testing and self-monitoring," says Hoorfar, noting it can also be used as a personal breathalyzer after alcohol consumption. "People can consciously make the choice to test themselves after they have consumed THC or alcohol."

 

The microfluidic breath analyzer, made with a 3D printer at the UBC's campus in Kelowna, British Columbia, uses a single gas sensor along with a micrometer deep channel (not even as thick as a strand of hair). The highly-sensitive semiconductor gas sensor is inside the microchannel - and diffused exhaled breath is recorded and analyzed as it flows through this channel. The "smellprint" of the exhaled breath is then provided by the device showing how much marijuana has been consumed.

 

Hoorfar says with the decriminalization of cannabis on the federal government's radar, and several American states legalizing the substance, it's only a matter of time before driving while stoned becomes an enforcement matter. Police in Colorado and Washington states use an oral swab to test saliva, or can order a blood test. But even in those states, there is no legal definition of the amount of THC that can determine if a person is too impaired to drive.
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[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

48 minutes ago, DocM said:

At the least, Michigan law already doesn't distinguish between alcohol, marijuana or medication impaired driving - even over the counter meds like benadryl.  They take no prisoners here wrt impaired driving.

 

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/309450.php

 

It's like that in many other jurisdictions.

 

Impaired driving is among the stupidest and irresponsible things humans can do.

 

imho even smoking a cigarette can significantly worsen one's ability to drive, especially if it's been smoked early in the morning before breakfast. yikes.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

/s   Now I'll be deemed a lethal weapon for cigars and dirty sun glasses.

[FloatingFatMan]

On 24/04/2016 at 7:13 AM, Mirumir said:

imho even smoking a cigarette can significantly worsen one's ability to drive, especially if it's been smoked early in the morning before breakfast. yikes.

OK, so, how do you figure that? Smoking has no deleterious affects on ones cognitive functions...

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

4 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

OK, so, how do you figure that? Smoking has no deleterious affects on ones cognitive functions...

 

Of course it has. How do I know? From my personal experience.

 

p.s. Fortunately I quit.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

14 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

OK, so, how do you figure that? Smoking has no deleterious affects on ones cognitive functions...

 

That morning cigarette will kill you every time, I tell you! (been smoking for 24 years now, and that's the first time I've ever heard THAT one)

[FloatingFatMan]

19 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

Of course it has. How do I know? From my personal experience.

 

p.s. Fortunately I quit.

Horse pockey. I smoked for 20 years, and never once had a problem such as you describe.

 

Maybe it's all the mind control drugs in your Russian cigarettes?

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Just now, FloatingFatMan said:

Horse pockey. I smoked for 20 years, and never once had a problem such as you describe.

 

Maybe it's all the mind control drugs in your Russian cigarettes?

 

Good luck and be careful.

[FloatingFatMan]

Just now, Mirumir said:

Good luck and be careful.

Huh?  

[Jim K Global Moderator]

On 4/24/2016 at 1:13 AM, Mirumir said:

imho even smoking a cigarette can significantly worsen one's ability to drive, especially if it's been smoked early in the morning before breakfast. yikes.

haha...what?  I used to smoke and my driving was never impaired...smoking cigs doesn't impair (though it isn't exactly great for overall health)  I guess the worst thing that could have happened would be getting distracted while lighting up or dropping the fire in your lap.  What kind of cigarettes are they selling in Russia?  

[n_K]

"It's very easy to test for THC as it is a big molecule that stays in your breath for a long time," says Hoorfar, recently named UBC Okanagan's researcher of the year. "There is a period of 12 hours after you have consumed THC when it can still be detected in your breath."

Great! Police can once again abuse a device with a huge purposefully inbuilt fault that can detect it 12 hours after using it when it's most likely not in effect in your body and wrongfully arrest/charge you...

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

16 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Huh?  

 

10 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

haha...what?  I used to smoke and my driving was never impaired...smoking cigs doesn't impair (though it isn't exactly great for overall health)  I guess the worst thing that could have happened would be getting distracted while lighting up or dropping the fire in your lap.  What kind of cigarettes are they selling in Russia?  

If you've never felt even a slight dizziness after smoking the first cig on an empty stomach in the morning, consider yourself to be lucky ones. Or, you're just lying.

[FloatingFatMan]

10 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

 

If you've never felt even a slight dizziness after smoking the first cig on an empty stomach in the morning, consider yourself to be lucky ones. Or, you're just lying.

Nope. Never had that at all. Maybe your Russian smokes are just full of more garbage than western ones?

 

[adrynalyne]

Just now, FloatingFatMan said:

Nope. Never had that at all. Maybe your Russian smokes are just full of more garbage than western ones?

 

I've never heard that from any smoker either. 

[FloatingFatMan]

Just now, adrynalyne said:

I've never heard that from any smoker either. 

Indeed.  It's probably Russian cigarettes.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

You can all do an experiment on your own the next morning if you listen to your own bodies attentively and be honest with yourselves.

 

p.s. Benson & Hedges are among the most nausea-inducing cigs I've ever tried.

[Jim K Global Moderator]

24 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

 

If you've never felt even a slight dizziness after smoking the first cig on an empty stomach in the morning, consider yourself to be lucky ones. Or, you're just lying.

When I was a smoker .... no.  If I had gone long periods without a cigarette (like if I was trying to quit) ... the first cigarette would give me a slight buzz and it certainly didn't linger.  I'm sure if I lit one now ... it would do the same (I'd probably pass out...haha).  But when I was a smoker...i.e. pack a day...I do not recall feeling buzzed after smoking the first morning cig.

[FloatingFatMan]

3 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

You can all do an experiment on your own the next morning if you listen to your own bodies attentively.

 

p.s. Benson & Hedges are among the most nausea-inducing cigs I've ever tried.

 

Not really... I quit 16 years ago. But seriously, I never experienced that, and neither has any of the smokers I know. Maybe it's just you?

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

Stay healthy or keep on killing yourselves (and enriching the tobacco companies). It's your choice. You are free to do with your own body whatever you want as long as you don't harm the others in the process. It's my fundamental belief.

 

And, by the way, all this time you've been arguing about my humble opinion.

 

Quote

imho even smoking a cigarette can significantly worsen one's ability to drive, especially if it's been smoked early in the morning before breakfast. yikes.

 

Cheers!

[FloatingFatMan]

As I already said, I quit smoking a long long time ago. Still, your experience is not everyone else's experience, but as usual, you're totally unable to accept other people might be right and you wrong.

 

You have yet to justify your opinion.

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

On 4/24/2016 at 1:13 AM, Mirumir said:

imho even smoking a cigarette can significantly worsen one's ability to drive, especially if it's been smoked early in the morning before breakfast. yikes.

 

42 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

 

If you've never felt even a slight dizziness after smoking the first cig on an empty stomach in the morning, consider yourself to be lucky ones. Or, you're just lying.

 

15 minutes ago, Mirumir said:

And, by the way, all this time you've been arguing about my humble opinion.

Well...yea...(no offense) it is a stupid opinion that isn't based off of any fact.  No one was arguing ... just calling you out.

 

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

The Michigan State Police also hide in the woods. In Ohio they don't do that.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

34 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

Well...yea...(no offense) it is a stupid opinion that isn't based off of any fact.  No one was arguing ... just calling you out.

Nicotine is a mind-altering drug. Believe what you want.

[FloatingFatMan]

1 minute ago, Mirumir said:

Nicotine is a mind-altering drug. Believe what you want.

Belief doesn't come into it, only fact. Nicotine has no affect on the cognitive functions. It can suppress your appetite, and it can speed your metabolism, but it has ZERO affect on your motor functions, your mental processes, or anything else in the quantities it's present in cigarettes.

 

If you have PROOF otherwise, present it.

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

22 minutes ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Belief doesn't come into it, only fact. Nicotine has no affect on the cognitive functions. It can suppress your appetite, and it can speed your metabolism, but it has ZERO affect on your motor functions, your mental processes, or anything else in the quantities it's present in cigarettes.

 

If you have PROOF otherwise, present it.

 

The case I presented was pretty specific that having an early morning cig on an empty stomach can have an adverse effect on the brain's motor functions. 

 

Nicotine is in fact a stimulant and it does affect cognitive functions. Each stimulant comes with a cost. If a smoker's body is used to tobacco and tolerates it, of course that person will feel better and more alert shortly after smoking a cig (they are addicted and smoking satisfies their addiction). However, and I can swear on this in court, there's a short period of time there when you do feel "stoned" and dizzy if it's your first morning cig. Call it a buzz or whatever. This is the risk I was talking about. God forbid being in such a situation while driving.

 

If you deny that nicotine has psychoactive properties, there's no point arguing.