- In Idaho, you can
drive high as long as you can drive
straight.
Marijuana users can drive legally in the
state as long as their driving isn't
erratic and they can pass a field
sobriety test, a federal appeals court
ruled Monday.
- The three-judge
panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that while
it is illegal to drive under the
influence of alcohol or narcotics, Idaho
law doesn't list marijuana as a narcotic.
The ruling overturned an impaired driving
conviction against Matthew Patzer, 21,
who was stopped for a broken tailgate
light in 1998 and admitted to police he'd
smoked marijuana at a party. The appeals
court said Patzer could not automatically
be presumed impaired; he wasn't driving
erratically and passed two field sobriety
tests.
"Given the distinction drawn by the
statute, there is no basis to conclude
that impairment may be presumed upon
admission of use of a non-narcotic
drug," the appeals court wrote.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Fica
in Idaho said the government may ask the
court to review its decision or request
that the U.S. Supreme Court hear the
case.
Idaho Senate Judiciary Chairman Denton
Darrington said he had assumed marijuana
was a narcotic under state law, and that
the statute might need to be reviewed.
But he questioned whether Monday's
decision would hold up on appeal.
The circuit's decision also reverses
Patzer's illegal weapons convictions.
In his Chevrolet Blazer, police found
four illegal homemade grenades, a
sawed-off shotgun and a modified rifle
with a homemade silencer. But the court
said that because of his unlawful arrest,
the search of his vehicle was illegal.
The case is United States v. Patzer,
00-30360.
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