FRANKFORT – As the Bluegrass State prepares to legalize medical cannabis and more nearby states loosen their marijuana laws, one senator from Eastern Kentucky wants to ensure the commonwealth’s laws covering driving under the influence keep up.
Senate Bill 32, from Sen. Johnnie Turner, R-Harlan, would add language to existing state law that would clarify what level of marijuana concentration in the system of a person driving a car qualifies as being under the influence.
Kentucky law does not set a specific legal limit — a driver is considered under the influence if any traces of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component in marijuana known as THC, are detected upon a blood test. Meanwhile, THC may be detected in blood or saliva up to 24 hours after use, long after its effects wear off.
Turner’s bill, if passed, would set a legal limit of five nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood in a test taken within two hours of driving a vehicle. Defendants in DUI cases would be presumed as not being under the influence if test results included a result lower than four nanograms, and cases between four and five nanograms would not presume a defendant is guilty or innocent but could be taken into account with other evidence.
“We have standards for alcohol and other medications … but there’s nothing for marijuana,” Turner said Tuesday after Senate activities had ended. “If you had marijuana in your system that you smoked a month ago, police officers are going to charge you for DUI, and there’s no standards for the court or the judicial system like there are for alcohol.”
Turner has introduced similar legislation before, with input from the Kentucky County Attorney’s Association. He filed an identical bill toward the end of the 2023 legislative session to “get it out there in the public view,” he said. It advanced through the Senate but did not end up being passed before the session ended.
“It’s giving some standards, which should have been created years ago,” said Turner, who’s spent more than 40 years as a trial attorney. “(It’s) what the public needs, the government needs — it’s just a need for the whole society.”
Recreational marijuana is still outlawed in Kentucky, but some other regulations in the commonwealth and laws in nearby states have gone up in smoke in recent years.
On the final day of the 2023 General Assembly, state lawmakers moved to legalize medical cannabis. That law, approved in March by Gov. Andy Beshear, goes into effect at the start of 2025.
Four states that neighbor Kentucky now allow recreational marijuana as well — Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia. Across the U.S., 24 states have legalized cannabis for recreational use.
Turner’s bill isn’t the only piece of legislation filed in the General Assembly this year with marijuana at its center.
Rep. Nima Kulkarni, D-Louisville, has put forward two bills about cannabis access — one that would legalize possession for anyone age 21 and older (House Bill 160) and another eliminating penalties for possession and expunging past convictions (House Bill 72).
Rep. Rachel Roberts, D-Newport, has also filed a wide-ranging bill that would end penalties for marijuana use and allow legal sales to be taxed by Kentucky (House Bill 90), while Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, also wants to expunge certain convictions and remove penalties for possession (Senate Bill 73).
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
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