For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 5

How the New Medical
Marijuana Act Will Create
More Criminals
Brian Vincent Manchester

O

n April 17, 2016, Governor Tom Wolfe
signed the Pennsylvania Medical
Marijuana Act1 into law. The effective
date of the new Medical Marijuana Act was May
17, 2016. The passing of this law is a boon to
those people suffering from several serious and
often debilitating medical conditions specifically
defined in the act.2 Just recently, Pennsylvania
medical marijuana patients started signing up for
the program, and soon, medical marijuana will be
available to dispense. Unfortunately, there are a
lot of misconceptions about what this law does
and doesn't make legal. The biggest problem
with this law is that, as of now, it will lead to the
creation of thousands of criminals, or potential
criminals, because the DUI laws covering drugs
(DUID) in Pennsylvania have not changed.3
In Pennsylvania, marijuana4 and
tetrahydrocannabidols5 (THC) are still listed as
Schedule I drugs. Our DUI laws, as mentioned
earlier, have not changed. In particular, the
statutes relating to the presence of any amount
of THC or its metabolites6 whether you are
impaired or not are still on the books. That
is the most sinister aspect of the DUID law
in Pennsylvania. Although it will be legal for
authorized patients to ingest the legal forms of
marijuana, once they take control of a vehicle
they become instant criminals according to the
terms of our DUID law.7

It is without dispute that now, and in the
future, our legislature and citizens will not find
it acceptable to drive while impaired by THC,
whether it is prescribed or not, or while impaired
by any other legal or illegal drug for that matter.
Nobody wants impaired drivers on the road. The
legislature's main failure in drafting and passing
the Medical Marijuana Act was not changing the
scheduling of approved forms of marijuana to
Schedule II drugs at the same time as the Act was
passed.8 Especially when it comes to the presence
of 11-Nor-9-Carboxy-Delta-9-THC (THC-COOH)
in a person's blood. 11-Nor-9-Carboxy-Delta-9THC (THC-COOH) is also referred to as Delta-9Carboxy.9 It is well known that Delta-9-Carboxy
has zero pharmacological effect on a person.
This is the compound that can be found in the
bloodstream for days as it is stored in the fat cells
of the human body.10
I am often asked questions about marijuanabased DUI cases, and I find that the basic
pharmacology of marijuana DUI cases is not well
Vol. 3, Issue 1

l

For The Defense

5



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018

Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 1
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 2
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - Contents
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 4
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 5
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 6
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 7
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 8
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 9
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 10
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 11
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 12
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 13
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 14
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 15
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 16
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 17
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 18
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 19
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 20
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 21
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 22
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 23
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 24
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 25
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 26
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 27
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 28
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 29
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 30
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 31
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 34
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 35
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 37
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 38
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 39
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 40
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 41
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 42
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 43
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 44
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 45
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 46
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 47
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 48
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 49
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 50
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 53
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For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 55
For the Defense - Volume 3, Issue 1 - 2018 - 56
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