On Jan. 1, 2026, I was on the phone with my fiance when he was struck head-on by an under-the-influence driver going down the wrong side of the highway. Fortunately, my fiance survived the horrific incident — however, so many in this same situation do not live to tell the story.
In 2023, a 17-year-old Texan who was driving while high swerved into the wrong lane at 65 mph and crashed head-on into a minivan, killing six people and leaving one paralyzed. When the father of the family, the sole survivor, woke up from the crash, the last thing he remembered was talking to his daughter in the backseat. He then had to be told that his wife, children, and in-laws had lost their lives due to someone else’s utter carelessness.
Unfortunately, stories like these have been magnified as marijuana usage becomes increasingly normalized across our country. Last year, 42% of drivers in fatal crashes tested positive for THC, the psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant. However, despite its prevalence in causing collisions, there is no accurate field test for detecting marijuana in DUI cases. The current tests (breathalyzers, blood alcohol concentration, walk-and-turn, etc.) were specifically designed to determine alcohol content, not marijuana, even though marijuana use impairs driving ability significantly. Currently, the only indication of a driver being high is through an officer’s visual assessment and the alcohol-focused tests.
Read the rest of the article at the Washington Examiner.
