Law Enforcers Say Bill Will Criminalize Legal Medical Marijuana Patients & Distract Police
SACRAMENTO, CA -- A group of former California police officers, prosecutors and judges issued a letter today asking Assemblymember Norma Torres to withdraw a bill she has introduced that would criminalize driving with any amount of cannabinoids in the body. The criminal justice professionals, members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), say that the standards created by the bill have nothing to do with actual impairment behind the wheel and will criminalize the state's legal medical marijuana patients.
The letter reads, in part, "Zero tolerance has a nice ring to it, but most all applications of this overused (and clichéd) concept result in harmful unintended consequences. Zero tolerance relieves the decision-maker of the burden of making sound legal judgments and routinely produces more harm than good. It is absolutely conceivable that, if passed, this bill will become the...