This ER doctor is about to launch the first marijuana breathalyzer

[Robrites]

This ER doctor is about to launch the first marijuana breathalyzer, and it could completely upend how we do drug testing

• California startup Hound Labs is getting ready to roll out the world's first marijuana and alcohol breathalyzer.
• The device will be tested in pilot programs with law enforcement and a labor union, and will work similarly to an alcohol breathalyzer.
• Based in Oakland, Hound Labs has raised $34 million in funding and has notable investors like Dick Wolf, the creator of hit TV series 'Law & Order.'
• While there's currently no well-defined legal way to determine if someone is too high to drive, regulators have outlined some possibilities. Today, police rely on subjective measures like field sobriety tests.

Emergency room physician and deputy sheriff Mike Lynn wasn't at work when the idea for a marijuana breathalyzer came to him.
Instead, the 52-year-old father of four had been cycling with a friend in the leafy hills of Oakland, California when the pair were passed by a speeding car. Plumes of skunk-scented smoke trailed the vehicle from the driver's side window.
The friend — a professional race car driver — told Lynn he'd never dream of driving under the influence of marijuana. And in that moment, Lynn decided there had to be a way to stop others from doing so.
So in 2014, Mike and his wife Jenny created Hound Labs, a startup headquartered in downtown Oakland. Their first product would be the world's first device capable of detecting recent cannabis use on a person's breath. It's set to roll out this fall, when it will undergo pilot testing with an undisclosed division of law enforcement and with a nonprofit trade union that represents more than 35,000 construction workers in Northern California.



Read on for lots more

 

[pumpkinpie eyes]

martha stewart making edibles...another few million fer her.
glad to see mj going medical main stream

 

[GOT_BUD?]

Curious if it works with edibles...

 

[igrowone]

Curious if it works with edibles...

that motivated me to check
the company's site claims it detects edibles too
i suppose that makes sense, in order for it to be legally admissible in a court it would need to show a direct correlation with the THC level
but the THC level from edibles is way lower as measured in the blood stream
but impairment? cannabis just doesn't follow the rule that higher levels give an higher impairment
sobriety tests may be subjective, but they also have some common sense in them

 

[sdd420]

Fuck that self righteous dude I have and will continue to smoke all day every day... I am still good to drive

 

[art.spliff]

I disagree because thc doesn't impair and cops drink alcohol and are corrupt enough of the time that this is entirely a bad idea. Only to arrest people for bogus charges to oppress them. He should donate his $34 million to Oakland cannabis gardens in his neighborhood and others. Waste of time and resources, hire employees to do something productive if anything. This is interference, misdirection etc, against civil rights. They need to start a DARE program in schools promoting cannabis use among young people and discouraging tobacco and alcohol use especially among minors. By taking this course of action the ER doc is making more of a problem instead of helping. I don't think it's the first time doctors basically joined forces with the police. Class and population separation with security and then a devised curriculum which is not the truth.


I'm serious springing up 136 $250k cannabis gardens throughout Oakland is a much better investment than a thc breath machine. Better yet buy $34 million in high quality seeds and mail them to residents. But the promise of return on investment is not the same.

 

[George]

Good thing is CA field sobriety tests are voluntary. But he wouldn’t actually want you to know your rights...

 

[Gry]

Something doesn't sound right, imagine it's not be the money.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

The presence of THC has zero bearing on "Inebriation."

It's a cute toy with extremely limited usefulness for law enforcement. You want to know if someone is competent to drive? This is what field sobriety tests are for. You want to know if your employee is competent at their job? Use real management practices and hire/fire/promote based on performance.

 

[Hashmasta-Kut]

Fuck that self righteous dude I have and will continue to smoke all day every day... I am still good to drive

aye indeed brother, rules are made to be bent or even broken by responsible people.

 

[EsterEssence]

Most cannabis users can pass a field sobriety test, so what does that tell you, Their not impaired. With my neuropathy I can't walk a straight line stone cold sober, They are so far off base with the whole smoking and driving thing, I remember back in Amsterdam in the 90's the nu-written rule was wait 15 mins from walking out of the coffee shop until you drove your car...

 

[armedoldhippy]

i've driven stoned (as well as driving while getting stoned) without a problem for 45 years. i have caught myself going 35 in a 55 zone before, but WTF? it aint like i was in a hurry anyway... and i was over in the right lane where all of us old bastards should stay.

 

[AgentPothead]

Some people purposely pushed for weed to be treated like alcohol and shit like this is the reason why. It's all about making money for them. Also if smoking weed fucks you up so much you can't drive a car maybe you shouldn't be allowed to drive a car in the first place.

 

[delerious]

I'm tempted to call BS. A speeding car with plumes of smoke? Just about everyone I know who smokes is much more likely to be going slower than the speed limit. I can't imagine how much you'd have to be smoking to see "plumes" of smoke coming out of a car that's parked, let alone one that's speeding.

 

[siftedunity]

if smoking doesn't impair your driving then its not strong enough.. lol one of my friends crashed all his favorite cars stoned. always when he was getting some really good shit he would crash another car.