Is Driving While High Dangerous? Denmark Considers Relaxing Marijuana Laws

Denmark, like many countries in Europe and around the world, have strict laws against marijuana use, but they're considering a change based on evidence that could have been harming sober drivers for years. Currently in Denmark, a driver caught with ANY traces of cannabis in their bloodstream can be fined and have their license suspended for 3 years. Now that marijuana is more common, it's well known that THC, the active chemical in marijuana, can remain in a users blood stream for sometimes months after, while the user's high will fade in a few hours. New legislation introduced would set a legal limit of THC and set the bar for inxtocated drivers, protecting the drivers who smoked marijuana long before getting behind the wheel. Denmark is also introducing a medical marijuana trial-program in 2018 that would allow doctors to prescribe cannabis for patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, chronic pain and chemotherapy aftereffects.

In Denmark, intoxicated drivers with any traces of weed in their blood can be punished with a fine and have their driver’s licenses suspended for up to three years. The new bill proposes that drivers only be punished if they have a certain amount of marijuana in their blood since it could take months before THC clears out of the bloodstream. Jan E. Jorgensen of the Liberal Party told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet the new bill will reduce the odds of harsh punishment for people “who have not been of any danger to traffic at all.”