Having lived through legalization in Washington for several years now... all I can say is that I am sorry for people who live in Michigan. Just like Michigan, we were very permissive here of marijuana for the past several decades, but legalization changed the situation for the worse in basically every way. Most heavy users still get it from the same illegal sources that they always have to avoid the taxes. Law enforcement mostly ignores the unlicensed dealers despite the loss of tax revenues. From my own observations usage is way... way up. When you are driving down most roads you have to turn your car to max air to recirculate what is already in your car or your car is filled with the heavy skunk like odor of marijuana from the cars ahead of you.
Potheads who get behind the wheel are killing people in my neck of the woods. But it’s harder than Hades to get a conviction and/or a harsh sentence because of the blood level issue.
At least with drunks, you’ve got a BAC to use. And the drunks know it.
“From my own observations usage is way... way up.”
According to the feds (SAMHSA) past-month marijuana use in Washington went from 18.92% in 2013-14 to 15.30% in 2016-17 (https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHsaeShortTermCHG2015/NSDUHsaeShortTermCHG2015.htm, table 1 and https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/cbhsq-reports/NSDUHsaeSpecificStates2017B/NSDUHsaeSpecificStates2017.htm, table 106).
“When you are driving down most roads you have to turn your car to max air to recirculate what is already in your car or your car is filled with the heavy skunk like odor of marijuana from the cars ahead of you.”
Again, I invite you over to my neck of the woods, same state, a place where you previously lived and served, to cruise the avenues and boulevards and just plain roads and streets to try to pick up that odor. I will concede that after three or four tankloads of fuel with your windows open maybe you will encounter such but not before unless you are really lucky. Quit exaggerating. I have never smelled it from inside the car. I do know of one single house where you can walk by and sometimes smell it.