'Green Lab': Baltimore County police train on cannabis users to detect impairment
BALTIMORE -- With less than two months until the recreational use of cannabis becomes legal in Maryland, the Baltimore County Police Department is training officers to spot impairment behind the wheel.
The training is called "The Green Lab" and it's held at the Chesapeake Region Safety Council in Windsor Mill.
That's where medical cannabis cardholders lit up while the officers assessed their impairment in real-time.
Bongs, joints and edibles were all brought in the presence of law enforcement.
"There is a stigma about people, why are they using cannabis," David Madaras, president of the Chesapeake Region Safety Council, said. "Is it just to get high? Well, there are a lot of people who have medical needs for it and they use it and it dissipates the need for some other challenge."
All of the people in the back garage of the Chesapeake Region Safety Council were medical cannabis cardholders.
"I just think this is really, really important," Marine veteran Rick Glass said. "I personally see cannabis as a medication. Cannabis saved my life. I just reached six years without a drop of alcohol all thanks to cannabis, and did two combat tours in Iraq."
Glass and his smoking buddies sparked up and helped law enforcement identify the signs of cannabis impairment that Marylanders may experience behind the wheel.
"There's going to be people now that are going to smell like marijuana, they're going to tell you they're on marijuana," said Jeff Schaub, from the Baltimore County DUI Task Force. "You may see marijuana in the car but they're not impaired. It's OK to let them get back in the car and leave. If they're not impaired, it's time to let them drive and be on their way."
This marks a generational shift in the attitude and approach of Maryland law enforcement as cannabis becomes an ever so normalized part of our society.
"Just us being here will educate some of the police officers on basically the difference of use of cannabis and impairment of cannabis, I think those are two totally different things," Glass said.
"If you're using cannabis, that's fine," Madaras said. "What it does to you and what you do after you use it is the concern we have."
And that's the point that Baltimore County police want to drive home, that as they adjust to a new normal in cannabis use, just like driving while drunk, they want to help folks avoid a fatal mistake.
"We are part of society. We need to learn to be with society," Shaub said. "That doesn't mean accepting the bad stuff. It means to live with the good stuff and understand what is normal now and what is useful."
This is a big shift in thinking and policy for law enforcement across Maryland as July 1 is less than two months away.
Something really important that also got introduced was the Druid App, which allows cannabis users to test their cannabis impairment before they get behind the wheel.