Senate Committee on State, Veterans & Military Affairs (05/15/2012)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

SENATE COMMITTEE ON STATE, VETERANS & MILITARY AFFAIRS

Date:	05/15/2012	ATTENDANCE

Time:	11:03 AM to 12:31 PM	Boyd	X
		Grantham	X
Place:	SCR 353	Neville	X
		Bacon	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Heath	X
	Senator Heath

This Report was prepared by
	Julia Jackson
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
HB12S-1005		Referred to Appropriations

11:04 AM -- House Bill 12S-1005

Senator S. King, sponsor, presented House Bill 12S-1005 to the committee. The bill would expand the definition of the driving under the influence (DUI) per se law to apply to drivers whose blood contains five nanograms or more of THC per milliliter while driving, which is a chargeable offense if the results of the blood test exceed legal limits. Senator S. King stated that this was a better and simpler bill than its previous version, Senate Bill 12-117, which passed out of the Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee in the regular 2012 session. Senator S. King listed DUI statistics from the past four years in Colorado and stated that doped driving is a state issue of epidemic proportions. Senator S. King answered questions from the committee on the practical effect of the eliminating the habitual user from the new version of the bill.

11:15 AM -- Josh Kappel, representing Sensible Colorado, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Kappel stated that the bill requires medical marijuana patients to choose between driving and living in pain by not affording them a rebuttable defense against the new law. Mr. Kappel stated that there is no per se limit on other drugs like oxycontin, valium, or codeine. Senator S. King was asked by the committee to respond to Mr. Kappel's comments.

11:21 AM -- Michael Elliott, representing the Medical Marijuana Industry Group, testified in opposition to the bill. Mr. Elliott discussed his participation with the Marijuana DUI Workgroup, which was formed after House Bill 11-1261 was defeated in 2011 to make recommendations to the state Drug Policy Task Force and Colorado Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice (the workgroup's report is available online at: http://norml.org/pdf_files/MMIG_Workgroup_Recommendation_9-6-11.pdf). The group made three main recommendations regarding marijuana and driving: 1) increase public education efforts, 2) employ more drug recognition experts to enforce current law, and 3) increase data-collection and research on the subject. Mr. Elliott stated that after a significant amount of time on the subject, the workgroup did not recommend per se limits. Mr. Elliott circulated a handout with Dr. Jan Ramaeker's responses to the workgroup's questions (Attachment A) and stated that the essential flaw of this bill is the inability to prove impairment beyond a reasonable doubt with a five-nanogram limit. He stated that the workgroup would likely support a 15-nanogram limit.

11:26 AM -- James McVaney, representing disability rights as a volunteer lobbyist, testified in opposition to bill. Mr. McVaney circulated a handout entitled "Medical Marijuana Laws, Traffic Fatalities, and Alcohol Consumption" by D. Mark Anderson of Montana State University and Daniel I. Rees of the University of Colorado at Denver published in November 2011 (Attachment B). Mr. McVaney refuted Senator S. King's statistics, citing that the spike in drugged driving charges comes from more police officers having received drugged driving recognition training in the past few years and that four years of data is not enough to build a case for a drugged driving epidemic.

11:29 AM -- Debbie Olander, representing the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 7, testified in opposition to the bill. Ms. Olander stated that current law is sufficient to mitigate this issue and that the blood test is a disproportionately invasive procedure for a traffic stop. Ms. Olander and Senator S. King responded to questions from the committee on the blood test.

11:34 AM -- Robin Hackett, representing herself as a cannabis adviser, testified in opposition to the bill. Ms. Hackett distributed a handout on the many ways people can use medical marijuana without being impaired (Attachment C). Ms. Hackett stated that more research needs to be conducted before this per se law is enacted. Ms. Hackett responded to questions from the committee on the blood test.

11:40 AM -- Stan Garnett, representing the 20th Judicial District as District Attorney, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Garnett distributed a letter of support in favor of House Bill 12S-1005 to the committee (Attachment D). Mr. Garnett equated the arguments being made against this bill to the arguments being made against instituting a blood alcohol content limit years ago. Mr. Garnett stated that the public safety risks of impaired drivers are significant, and that the community will adapt to a bill that is designed to promote public safety. Mr. Garnett stated that the law works best when there are clear, enforceable standards. Mr. Garnett responded to questions from the committee about how he responds to his constituents on this issue and about the current state of prosecutorial proceedings against people driving under the influence of drugs.

11:47 AM -- Tom Raynes, representing the Colorado District Attorney's Council as its Executive Director, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Raynes spoke on what the bill is and what the bill is not. According to Mr. Raynes, the bill is: a significant mechanism to protect the public; a fair, consistent, and conservative deterrent against impaired driving; and an educational tool. Mr. Raynes stated that the bill is not a change in police procedure or a change in the number of blood tests. Mr. Raynes addressed Dr. Jan Ramaeker's study. Mr. Raynes responded to questions from the committee on the five-nanogram limit.

11:52 AM -- Michael Dougherty, representing the Colorado Attorney General's office, testified in support of the bill. Mr. Dougherty stated that while Colorado has been on the forefront of the medical marijuana movement and the dispensary model, the state lags behind on public safety. Mr. Dougherty stated that the science is there to support the five nanogram limit, and that the limit would represent one of the highest in the world. Mr. Dougherty stated that a bright line rule would give certainty to both law enforcement and defendants in cases of drugged driving.

11:55 AM -- Peg Ackerman, representing the County Sheriffs of Colorado, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Ackerman stated that drugged driving has been one of the biggest public safety issues that county sheriffs have faced in the past two years.

11:57 AM -- Annmarie Jensen, representing the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Jensen stated that developing a hard standard is in the interest of public safety and would prevent future accidents.

12:00 PM -- Laura Spicer, representing herself, testified in support of the bill. Ms. Spicer stated that her son was the victim of a marijuana impaired driver. Ms. Spicer stated that this bill would allow victims' family members to know if the driver was impaired by drugs after an accident. Ms. Spicer stated that blood tests are usually drawn an hour or more after the time of driving, making the five-nanogram limit more than fair. Ms. Spicer stated that breathalyzers were not available at the time DUI legislation was created, but that science will always catch up to policy.

12:04 PM

Senator S. King introduced prepared Amendment L.003 (Attachment E), which would create a program like the TIPS Responsible Alcohol Training Program for the marijuana community. Senator S. King responded to questions from the committee on the program. Senator Grantham moved the bill and the prepared amendment before Senator S. King requested that Senator Grantham withdraw the amendment, in the interest of the time.


BILL:	HB12S-1005
TIME:	12:12:03 PM
MOVED:	Grantham
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 12S-1005 to the Committee on Appropriations. The motion passed on a vote of 4-1.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Boyd	Yes
	Grantham	Yes
	Neville	No
	Bacon	Yes
	Heath	Yes


Final YES: 4 NO: 1 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:13 PM

The committee adjourned.