Page 4 - Occupational Health & Safety, September 2017

FROM THE EDITOR
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VOLUME 86 NUMBER 9
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We Need More Answers Ion Marijuana’s Effects
’ve long believed that alcohol is more dangerous than mari- juana and more costly to society. But this belief hasn’t made me a fan of marijuana legalization. I don’t use it, medicinally or recreationally, so I can’t support legalization out of self-
interest. What concerns me are the safety and societal conse- quences1 that seem certain to follow, in my opinion: industrial accidents, traffic accidents, injuries, increased absenteeism, poor student performance in schools, and more.
We’ve presented several webinars and published numerous
articles about employers’ options for their operations in states
where marijuana has been legalized. Most pointed out that, at
this point, we don’t know how to determine impairment with
marijuana use, as we do with alcohol. “The topic of ‘how much is
okay’ is really a huge unknown, and not even experienced toxi-
cologists can recommend an ‘acceptable’ level of THC. There are
reasons why no impairment standards exist for marijuana that boil down to one very compli- cated and yet simple statement: The science isn’t there yet, and it won’t likely be anytime soon,” DATIA Chairman-elect Jo McGuire explained in our October 2016 issue.
And so I applaud the accomplishment by National Institute of Standards and Technology scientists that may lead to a reliable marijuana breathalyzer. NIST announced in early July (if you follow our website and Twitter feed, you probably saw this story then) that they measured THC’s vapor pressure, which is very difficult and had not been accomplished before.
Some companies are trying to develop marijuana breathalyzers, but testing someone’s breath for marijuana-derived compounds is far more complicated than testing for alcohol, the agency reported, explaining that driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal in any state but, to enforce the law, authorities need a reliable roadside test for marijuana intoxication.
NIST’s article said the researchers are laying the technical groundwork for manufacturers to develop accurate devices. More research will be needed to understand how breath levels of THC correlate with blood levels and what blood levels of THC indicate someone is too im- paired to drive, the agency noted. Their paper was published2 online June 27.
JERRY LAWS
jlaws@1105media.com
REFERENCES
1. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/how-does-marijuana-use-affect- school-work-social-life
2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468170917300310
Editor’s note: An article on page 18 of our August 2017 issue used an incorrect number for the ANSI/ASSE Z244.1-2016 lockout/tagout standard. We regret the error.
NIST researchers are laying the technical groundwork for manu- facturers to develop accurate devices.
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4 Occupational Health & Safety | SEPTEMBER 2017