美国国家公共电台 NPR Scientists Still Seek A Reliable DUI Test For Marijuana

 

STACEY VANEK SMITH, HOST:

Marijuana is now legal in almost 30 states. But even in those states, it is still illegal to drive while impaired¹ by the drug. But as NPR's Rae Ellen Bichell reports, that's left law enforcement and scientists struggling to find better ways to figure out who is impaired.

RAE ELLEN BICHELL, BYLINE²: This spring, 16 state patrol officers packed into a hotel conference room in Denver. After an introduction and some slides, their instructor³ cued a YouTube video - How To Smoke.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

BOBBY BLACK: Hi. I'm Bobby Black, senior editor of High Times Magazine. And today, we're going to show you how to do a dab⁴.

BICHELL: The cops, with their buzz cuts and Mountain Dews, looked curious. Some took notes. After all, they were there for a proper education about weed.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

BLACK: A bowl of water and some tongs⁵ if you're seasoning⁶ a new nail. And, of course, some shatter or wax.

SMITH: Chris Halsor started this class a few years ago, when Colorado legalize recreational marijuana.

CHRIS HALSOR: The whole point of this class is to get the officers to make correct decisions.

BICHELL: In this state and others, it's legal to be high, but it's illegal to drive while high. Right now, there's no breathalyzer that's proven to work. So it's up to officers like the ones in this room to make the call on whether someone they've pulled over has been driving impaired or not and, therefore, if they should be arrested. But a lot of them haven't been high themselves since some exploratory puffs⁷ in high school. They're lacking, Halsor says, in confidence.

HALSOR: Confidence that they're making the right arrest decision and confident that they're letting people go who really aren't impaired.

BICHELL: The students paged through DOPE Magazine, chuckled⁸ at a photo of an edible⁹ called reef jerky and ogled¹⁰ gold-plated blunts at a nearby dispensary. But the real test was sitting in the hotel parking lot in an RV plastered with bumper¹¹ stickers.

EUGENE BUTLER: Yes. Good music, good company, good weed. It all goes together.

SHARICA CLARK: That's true.

BICHELL: The four volunteers - John, Christine, Sharica Clark and Eugene Butler - had never met before, but they shared a passion for pot, especially the free kind.

CHRISTINE: You've got some kief there, too?

BUTLER: But check this out. If you guys ever want to boost your high...

BICHELL: Just to be clear, it's legal to smoke pot on private property in Colorado, so they weren't doing anything wrong. These people, including Sharica Clark, were getting high as a kite for the greater good.

CLARK: We're going to willfully smell like pot around a bunch of cops (laughter).

BICHELL: The volunteers walk into the hotel, where the officers were waiting to practice sobriety tests on them. One group started with a volunteer named Christine. She didn't want to share her last name.

A.J. TARANTINO: Have you consumed any cannabis today?

CHRISTINE: Oh, yeah.

BICHELL: A.J. Tarantino, a trooper with Colorado State Patrol, took the lead with his colleagues Philip Gurley, Tom Davis and Rich Armstrong observing.

TARANTINO: Would you be willing to do voluntary roadside maneuvers¹²?

CHRISTINE: Of course.

BICHELL: Christine did really well in math, but she didn't do well on other things like balancing, remembering instructions and estimating time.

PHILIP GURLEY: She showed multiple signs of impairment.

TOM DAVIS: Yeah, she'd be going to jail.

RICH ARMSTRONG: Or, yeah, she'd be arrested.

BICHELL: But then, the group moved on to Sharica Clark.

TARANTINO: Let's get situated¹³ here.

BICHELL: And things got a little more complicated. Yes, her pupils were huge, and Philip Gurley told her she had a tough time touching¹⁴ her finger to the tip of her nose while her eyes were closed.

GURLEY: But your balance, your counting, your alphabet - all spot on.

BICHELL: So in real life, would they have arrested her for driving impaired?

GURLEY: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: Boy, you're tough. I don't know if I would've or not, to be honest with you.

BICHELL: Right now, these officers' opinions loom¹⁵ large. If they decide you're driving high, you're going to jail. But they are just opinions.

TARA LOVESTEAD: It's too subjective¹⁶.

BICHELL: Tara Lovestead is a chemical engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder¹⁷, Colo. She and her colleagues are looking for the chemical signature of a high, so that instead of relying on people to determine cannabis impairment, a standardized¹⁸ test might, one day, do the trick.

LOVESTEAD: We like to know the human error and the limitations of the human opinion and want to make it as scientific-based in fact as we can.

BICHELL: It's actually really hard to do this kind of research because Lovestead works in a federal lab and, federally, cannabis is considered a Schedule 1 substance. So even though she's in Colorado, getting a hold of a sample of THC for research purposes is just as hard as getting a hold of heroin¹⁹.

LOVESTEAD: Right. We cannot use the stuff down the street (laughter).

BICHELL: It's also a really tricky²⁰ chemistry problem. And that's because of the main chemical in cannabis that gets a person high, THC. In states like Colorado, there is a THC blood test, which can show, quote, "presumed impairment." But Lovestead and others maintain that, scientifically speaking, the test isn't reliable.

LOVESTEAD: We just don't know whether or not that means they're still intoxicated²¹ or impaired or not.

BICHELL: A leading research group found evidence of THC in the blood of frequent smokers²² up to a month after they stopped consuming. And, in other people, blood samples showed no trace of THC, even though the researchers had just watched them smoke joints²³.

LOVESTEAD: There's no quantitative²⁴ measure that could stand up in a court of law.

BICHELL: Now, people like Lovestead are setting the standards for a reliable breath test starting with the fundamental physical properties of THC. But, in the meantime, back at the hotel, this course is the best there is. And, at least, now, the officers know what pot strains like OG Kush and Skunk²⁵ Dawg actually smell like.

GURLEY: Yeah, smells like the bottom side of a rock a little bit more.

TARANTINO: Yeah. I want to smell one that's like - is there one that's fruity?

BICHELL: Rae Ellen Bichell, NPR News.

1 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

4 dab   

v.轻触，轻拍，轻涂；n.(颜料等的)轻涂

参考例句：

• She returned wearing a dab of rouge on each cheekbone.她回来时，两边面颊上涂有一点淡淡的胭脂。
• She gave me a dab of potatoes with my supper.她给我晚饭时，还给了一点土豆。

5 tongs   

n.钳；夹子

参考例句：

• She used tongs to put some more coal on the fire.她用火钳再夹一些煤放进炉子里。
• He picked up the hot metal with a pair of tongs.他用一把钳子夹起这块热金属。

6 seasoning   

n.调味；调味料；增添趣味之物

参考例句：

• Salt is the most common seasoning.盐是最常用的调味品。
• This sauce uses mushroom as its seasoning.这酱油用蘑菇作调料。

7 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

8 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

9 edible   

n.食品，食物；adj.可食用的

参考例句：

• Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
• This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得，那种吃不得。

10 ogled   

v.（向…）抛媚眼，送秋波( ogle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He ogled at all the attractive girls in the office. 他向办公室里所有有魅力的女孩暗送秋波。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Carrie found herself stared at and ogled. 嘉莉发现也有人在盯着她看，向她送秋波。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

12 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

13 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

14 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

15 loom   

n.织布机，织机；v.隐现，(危险、忧虑等)迫近

参考例句：

• The old woman was weaving on her loom.那位老太太正在织布机上织布。
• The shuttle flies back and forth on the loom.织布机上梭子来回飞动。

16 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

17 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

18 standardized   

adj.标准化的

参考例句：

• We use standardized tests to measure scholastic achievement. 我们用标准化考试来衡量学生的学业成绩。
• The parts of an automobile are standardized. 汽车零件是标准化了的。

19 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

20 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

21 intoxicated   

喝醉的，极其兴奋的

参考例句：

• She was intoxicated with success. 她为成功所陶醉。
• They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented. 他们酩酊大醉，东南西北全然不辨。

22 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

23 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

24 quantitative   

adj.数量的，定量的

参考例句：

• He said it was only a quantitative difference.他说这仅仅是数量上的差别。
• We need to do some quantitative analysis of the drugs.我们对药物要进行定量分析。

25 skunk   

n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥

参考例句：

• That was a rotten thing to do, you skunk!那种事做得太缺德了，你这卑鄙的家伙！
• The skunk gives off an unpleasant smell when attacked.受到攻击时臭鼬会发出一种难闻的气味。