Is It Time for State to Begin Tracking Marijuana Only DUI Arrests?

Since Washington voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012,   there have been indications the number of impaired motorists has risen, due to using pot before getting behind the wheel.

However, Washington state does NOT currently keep a database of which drivers charged with DUI were just smoking pot.   According to the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission (WSTSC),   while the number of pot impaired drivers has risen, there's no "official" figure.

According to arrest figures statewide from 2013,  the number of pot related DUI arrests appeared to have risen about 30%.    Pot became legal shortly after the 2012 election, but stores did not begin selling it until July 2014.

The commission said the increase represented cases where pot was either combined with alcohol or the sole impairing agent.  But no figures exist for pot-only cases.

The Washington State Patrol said the number of drivers who were arrested for DUI that had pot in their system had risen about 20-25%.  But under the Revised Code of Washington,  drug and alcohol DUI's are treated as one and the same.

According to the WSTSC, some cities and counties do track their pot related DUI figures. For example, the City of Spokane Valley reports their number of pot-only DUI cases in 2013 doubled from 7 to14.   Spokane Valley was incorporated out of the semi-rural areas of Dishman, Veradale, Opportunity and Green Acres a few years ago.    The Washington State Patrol reports pot-only DUI cases are about 4% of their total DUI arrests.

However, a telling statistic does come from the other state that became the first to sell recreational pot, Colorado.   A  June 26th. story from USA Today reports a Colorado detox facility has seen a 50% increase in their patients who were arrested for pot DUI.    The Arapahoe House in Denver says the percentage of pot-related DUI patients has gone from 8 to 15% since the state  began selling marijuana.   Sales began January 1st. and the figures were tracked from then until May 31st.

They say the average age and gender of these patients is a 30-year-old male.

So far in Washington state, there have been three widely publicized incidents where marijuana was blamed for accidents:

*In December 2012, a Vancouver, WA man was charged with DUI after hitting and killing a pedestrian.  It was the first pot-only DUI after it was legalized in November.

*In June 2014, a Snohomish County woman, Heather Lee, was arrested for after she rear-ended another vehicle in a turn lane on Highway 2 between Monroe and Sultan.  She admitted to Washington State Patrol officers she'd "smoked a bowl" of pot sometime before getting behind the wheel.  She set off an 8-car accident that sent 5 people to area hospitals.

*A 47-year-old Vancouver, WA man was charged after he plowed his Mustang into a group of trick-or-treaters on Halloween this year, killing a 7-year-old girl.  The arresting officers said the man's eyes were "red, blurry and droopy" and he appeared to be under the influence of a drug at the time of his arrest.   A blood test showed positive for THC.

Impaired driving fatalities in our state overall have dropped, or at least stabilized over the last few years, thanks to all the emphasis patrols that seem to be acting as a deterrent.

But critics say the state should be tracking which drivers arrested for DUI were high, and especially those who used only pot.      Opponents say it's unfair to blame legal pot when alcohol causes the greatest number of accidents.

We side with those who say the state should at least attempt to track the effect that marijuana is having on motorists, especially now that this controversial drug has been legalized for recreational use.