Many state now allow marijuana to be legal recreation-ally including Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Nevada.
California is set to make its debut in the legal recreational marijuana market in January of 2018 which could be pretty big given the size of California.
The industry is opening the door for some companies to develop breathalyzers that could be used.
“The problem is really figuring out who is actually stoned — shouldn’t be behind the wheel or in the cockpit of an airplane, or in an operating room in the hospital — versus who has THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — just floating around in their system,” said Mike Lynn, an emergency medicine physician in Oakland, California .
Lynn is also a reserve deputy sheriff with Alameda County as well as the CEO of Hound Labs. Hound Labs is developing a marijuana breathalyzer which is a small, black breathalyzer that has a tube sticking out of it.
According to Lynn, after someone blows through it a few times, it’s able to analyze and detect the amount of THC in someone’s breath in minutes.
“We’re making it ergonomic and quick and easy to use,” Lynn said. “By the end of the year we will be able to sell to police officers.”
