PORTLAND, Maine — According to the Portland Police Department, the number of drivers operating under the influence of cannabis is increasing, as recreational use becomes more widespread.

Recreational-use cannabis became legal in Maine in 2016, with dispensaries starting to sell it in 2020.

Maine is one of 24 states where recreational use of cannabis is legal, and each of those states has its own definition of what the legal amount of cannabis in a driver’s blood can be. Maine is one of 18 states where someone cannot drive if cannabis is in their system.

Portland police Officer Craig Knight is a drug recognition expert, which means he’s specifically trained to spot impaired drivers. 

“Cannabis impairment looks different in every single person,” Knight said. 

While cannabis can stay in your system from a few days to a few weeks, according to Healthline, a person can generally feel the brunt of the effects within just a few minutes to a few hours. Similarly, those effects can last minutes or hours, while traces can remain for a longer period of time.

At its peak, cannabis can affect each person differently, meaning one person can be virtually unaffected while someone else could have harsher effects after consuming a similar amount. That’s why it’s difficult to put an exact amount on the legal limit, Knight explained. 

“Someone could take X amount and be completely fine. Someone else could take that and be on the floor,” Knight said. “Our job is just to prove that they are impaired at the time of the stop.”

A Maine Bureau of Highway Safety report shows that out of all OUI samples tested in 2023, 44 percent tested positive for cannabis.

In a recent national study by AAA, 84 percent of the people surveyed said they consume cannabis and then drive. Roughly half of the respondents said using cannabis didn’t affect their driving, with some saying they feel they drive better.

Unlike alcohol, however, Knight said cannabis can affect reaction time on the road.

“Quite a lot of people will have drooped eyelids, red eyes, bloodshot eyes, for example, ” Knight said. “Their time and distance perception will be off. Sometimes their speech will be slowed, slurred, thick.”

Knight also said he’s not only worried about people getting high and then driving but also about people getting high while they drive.

“It’s not just your old-fashioned joints, which are very common, but you can use cannabis in millions of different ways,” Knight said.

Between liquid cannabis in vape pens to edible products that contain cannabis, Knight said it can be tricky to spot on the road by sight alone.

“You can have brownies, cookies, or any form of food. It’s a thing that we constantly have to try and stay on top of to see the trends on the road and then react to that so we’re not getting fooled,” Knight explained.

The penalties for cannabis OUI are the same as drinking and driving. 

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