In our previous post, we spoke about the case of a 24-year-old Vancouver man who has been charged with vehicular homicide in connection with a car wreck that killed his passenger. The young man, as we said, had reportedly smoked marijuana prior to the crash, though he was not technically impaired under Washington DUI law, which doesn't define specific limits on drugs for purposes of DUI charges.

Last year, Representative Roger Goodman of Redmond began promoting a bill which would require measurement of the amount of THC in a person's blood during a DUI arrest, if marijuana is suspected to be a factor. Under that law, an individual with a THC blood alcohol concentration of 8 nanograms per milliliter would be considered impaired. The driver in this case had 15.1 nanograms per milliliter in his blood.

Goodman, who recently announced his candidacy for the US House of Representatives for the first congressional district, has become known for his push to end the prohibition of marijuana. His website says he supports regulating the substance for adult use as a way to dissolve the black market.

Individuals charged with DUI for operating a vehicle while under the influence of a drug face a different set of issues than those charged with DUI based on alcohol impairment. Blood alcohol levels have less meaning in marijuana DUI cases than they do for alcohol cases. Prosecutors will focus more on proving to the jury that the driver was actually impaired at the time of the accident rather than providing definite numbers as conclusive evidence.

Sources did not indicate the status of the legislation which, if passed into law, would net a broader audience of impaired drivers.

Source: Publicola.com, "Prosecutors Charge Man For Killing Passenger Aurora Crash," Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, Sep 29, 2011.