“Cannabis Breathalyzer” Technology Developed
Scientists have developed what could become the first cannabis breathalyzer: a rapid test to detect THC quickly and accurately. Not only would this help police by providing them with a roadside test to remove impaired drivers from the road, it could be used in a variety of settings where fear of cannabis impairment have led to overly cautious work policies.
The scientists call the new testing method EPOCH (Express Probe for Onsite Cannabis inHalation). Although the portion of the study available to the public does not directly call this a cannabis breathalyzer, the technology seems to work in the same way. Scientists describe measuring “oral fluids” (saliva) and a “distinctive sensor design” using a “compact cartridge” – all of which also match a breathalyzer description as well.
However, neither the paper’s preamble nor its Abstract mention how these fluids are introduced into the “compact cartridge”. It could be by breathing in, just like an alcohol breathalyzer. But it could also be introduced some other way, such as through a swab or a direct spit sample.
Regardless, the scientists’ results look promising. They show that the new technology is precise, detecting THC levels as small as 0.17 nanograms per millilitre (ng/ml). The authors state that this is well below the regulatory guideline of 1 ng/ml. It is also fast, processing the sample onsite within five minutes. And, it’s accurate. The Abstract seemingly says that the cannabis breathalyzer detected cannabis in the 43 people who used it (both smoking and edibles), and didn’t have false positives in the 43 people in the control group who did not.
The results of were published in Science Translational Medicine.
THC Rapid Test Could Potentially Give Roadside Results in Five Minutes – LPC
Currently, some police forces in Canada rely upon the Drager DrugTest 5000 in place of a “cannabis breathalyzer”. Although it can detect the presence of THC, it can’t determine impairment.
“It’s not meant to measure impairment and we never claimed that it does,” said a spokesperson from Drager.
However, Michelle Gray from a Sackville, Nova Scotia said that she had her driver’s licence suspended based on the Drager roadside test. She planned to challenge the results of the Drager cannabis impairment test in court.
In theory, this new type of cannabis breathalyzer could provide more accurate results. However, it’s not foolproof. Unlike alcohol, there isn’t a direct relation between detecting the drug and levels of impairment. THC can be detected in the bloodstream up to a month after use –long after impairment has faded. That was part of the problem – scientists did not know how long cannabis users remained impaired. A recent cannabis window of impairment study in Australia provided new data on that: up to 10 hours for cannabis edibles and up to four hours for cannabis smoking. Like alcohol, impairment depends on the concentration of THC and the amount smoked.
Long Time to Go Before New Cannabis Breathalyzer Hits the Market – LPC
The study into the new type of cannabis breathalyzer does not make a correlation between THC levels and impairment either – at least not in the publicly available portions of the paper. It is possible that there really is a correlation between THC levels and impairment. However, current tests were not sensitive enough to measure that range. It’s possible that this new test can do that.
But it’s still a long time to go before any sort of new cannabis breathalyzer hits the market. This study had a very low sample size of 86 people (43 who used cannabis and 43 who did not), so it would have to be proven on a much larger scale. Then, there would also have to be proof that it could make a direct link between THC levels in the body and impairment. If all that checks out, the unit would likely have to be approved for use by Health Canada in Canada, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or some other body in the United States. Then, it would also be a matter of convincing police departments across the country of its precision, accuracy, and usefulness.
Still, the prospect of an accurate cannabis breathalyzer is exciting. Besides being a useful roadside tool to determine impairment, it could help reduce the stigma of cannabis use as well. Further, companies who have a (non-scientific) zero-tolerance cannabis policy would have a useful tool to determine impairment in the workplace.
Read the Preamble and Abstract Here
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