The warning coming from a Connecticut chapter of the Automobile Association of America is that the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana will be an unpredictable public safety hazard that law enforcement won't be able to regulate.
“You’re going to be calling some people impaired who are not and there will be others who are impaired who are being let off," Amy Parmenter, a spokeswoman for AAA, said.
The issue, Parmenter and the group said, is that there is not a test in existence that yields a similar result to the BAC, or blood alcohol content, for detecting THC, the active chemical in cannabis.
For that reason, Parmenter says the state needs to slow down any plans to legalize the wide use and availability of marijuana, even though Massachusetts will have the drug on dispensary shelves in the next 18 months.
“Connecticut is not prepared to and would not be able to successfully adjudicate a lot of these cases because you know, how do you measure impairment?” Parmenter said.
Supporters of expansion have said there is political writing on the wall and it's possible every state in New England might allow for its use in the coming years.
Connecticut Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, who has not endorsed any proposal for legalization of recreational use, said the issue will go before a committee simply because of the way the issue has evolved in recent years.
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“Given what’s happened in Massachusetts and in Maine, obviously it’s an issue that’s at our borders. We want to have the discussion here. I’ve told the legislators that have been pushing the issues for years that it will get a public hearing this year,” he said.
The Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, which usually weighs in on law enforcement matters, hasn't yet decided on a policy position regarding the recreational use of marijuana.
