PA Bill Would Reform DUI Laws to Protect Medical Marijuana Patients

Senator Camera Bartolotta sponsored legislation (SB 1206) that would reform Pennsylvania’s DUI laws to stop criminalizing medical marijuana patients for driving long after any impairing effects of marijuana have worn off.

Pennsylvania legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2016, MPP reported. However, state law continues to criminalize drivers for having any amount of THC in their system.

THC can stay in a regular consumer’s system for days or weeks after last use, meaning patients are criminalized for driving well after impairment wears off. SB 1206 would provide that, for medical marijuana patients, it is only a crime to drive when impaired — not to simply have THC in one’s system.

The bill currently awaits a referral to a committee for a hearing.