On Thursday, the Supreme Court will consider whether the prohibition limit for THC in the blood of drivers is legal or not. THC is the most important active ingredient in cannabis. The association Tryggerere Ruspolitikk believes the limit is set so low that hundreds may have been convicted of drunk driving, even if they had been sober for several days when they got behind the wheel. Jørg Mørland led the professional advisory group that proposed today’s ban limit. – It has a protective effect on society if people comply with it. But it may seem unfair to individuals who will not be affected by these borders, says Jørg Mørland. Mørland is currently a senior researcher at the Institute of Public Health (FHI) and professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. Jørg Mørland was previously subject director at the department for drug toxicology research at FHI. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news Must have a preventive effect The limit came into force in 2012, and has remained unchanged since. It is set at 0.004 micromoles of THC per liter of blood, and should correspond to an alcohol concentration of 0.2. – The limit has been set so low that it should have a preventive effect. It should not necessarily require that everyone is affected across the border, but that there is an opportunity for you to be, Mørland elaborates. The aim of introducing fixed borders was to improve traffic safety. It should also lead to greater equal treatment of drink-driving. In addition, it should be easier for the authorities to enforce the regulations. This is how the current penalty level is 0.004 micromoles of THC per liter of blood (should correspond to 0.2 per thousand): Fine 0.010 micromoles of THC per liter of blood (should correspond to between 0.5 and 1.2 per thousand): Fine, suspended prison term, disqualified from driving for at least one year. 0.030 micromoles of THC per liter of blood (must correspond to over 1.2 per thousand): Unconditional imprisonment, fine, disqualified from driving for at least one year. Source: Regulations on the effects of drugs other than alcohol – The limits should be raised International research is critical of the use of such limit values for cannabis, writes Ole Røgeberg in an e-mail to news. He is a senior researcher at the Frisch Centre, and has previously co-authored a review of the research literature in the field. – The lowest limit values will affect residual values that can remain long after a person is clinically sober, he writes. Ole Røgeberg is a senior researcher at the Frisch Centre. Photo: KILIAN MUNCH Røgeberg believes that the solution with fixed borders does not work well. – If you are to have such a system, you should at least raise the limits so that responsible users are not affected when they drive sober. Before the fixed limits were introduced in 2012, individual assessments were made in cases where driving under the influence of cannabis was suspected. – Fixed impact limits of the same order of magnitude as the Norwegian one are currently used in eight other European countries, in Canada and in New Zealand, says Jørg Mørland. Affected for a few hours Regular users of cannabis can have traces of THC in their blood for several days after consumption, despite the fact that the intoxication only lasts for a few hours. – Most studies say that after four to six hours, the cognitive abilities will no longer be significantly affected by a normal drug dose. The concentration of THC in the blood can then be below or around the prohibition limit, says Mørland. The advisory group he chaired estimated that a typical drug dose contains around 25 milligrams of THC. The police have the opportunity to take a saliva sample from drivers who travel on the roads. The sample is analyzed in a “WipeAlyser”. The picture shows a sample that has tested positive for cannabis. Photo: Police Warning 14 years ago In 2009, the Norwegian Medicines Agency warned about introducing the current regulations. In a consultation response, they wrote that the alcohol limit for alcohol cannot be compared with other substances. The Norwegian Medicines Agency believed it was utopian to introduce today’s limits, and at the same time exclude intake several days back in time. The Norwegian Medicines Agency still believes that the assessments from the consultation response from 2009 stand. Photo: Screen dump / Norwegian Medicines Agency While alcohol is broken down in the body at a steady pace, the half-life of THC gradually becomes longer in the time after consumption. The long half-life means that regular cannabis users run the risk of residual concentrations of the substance being stored in the body. If that happens, they will be able to be above the current “alcohol limit” for a long time. The conflict only arises if you take a large dose of drugs, says Jørg Mørland. – The advisory group, in which the Norwegian Medicines Agency participated, therefore assumed that if large amounts had been taken or there had been several intakes, the drug concentrations could be above the prohibition limit for several days. Don’t know when you are below the limit If you buy alcohol in the shop or at the pole, you are familiar with the alcohol level. You also know approximately how long you should wait before getting behind the wheel. If you are in doubt, you can always take a breathalyzer test. If you’re wondering when you can safely drive after smoking a joint, it’s worse. If you are stopped by the police on the roads, and they suspect that you are under the influence of drugs other than alcohol, they can take a saliva sample from you. The sample is then analyzed in this apparatus in a few minutes. If the test comes out positive, you must accompany you to the emergency room to take blood samples. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news Since cannabis is not legalized in Norway, non-medical users must buy the drug illegally. In that case, they initially do not know exactly what – or how much – they are ingesting. There is also no good way to measure when cannabis users are below the prescribed limits without taking blood samples. – There is an uncertainty factor that is of course there if you smoke cannabis several times a week, and which you could say speaks both for and against fixed limits, says Jørg Mørland, who helped design the regulations. This is how long Mørland recommends waiting after taking Once a week or less often: Refrain from driving for one day. Several times per week: Refrain from driving for two days. Several times a day for a week or more: Refrain from driving for two weeks. Source: The Cannabis book. Chapter 5: Cannabis and road traffic. The chapter is written by Jørg Mørland and Jørgen G. Bramness. Large individual differences – The limit must have something to do with the risk that there is an influence present, which means that you can be a risk factor in traffic, says Mørland. – Are you one today if you have THC values above 0.004 micromoles per liter of blood? Mørland refers to the Dutch professor Jan Ramaekers. In a study from 2006, he found reduced cognitive skills in people with values around this level. – So did a more extensive survey from 2007 in which a number of research groups participated. But then there is also probably a large individual difference, which is greater for THC than for alcohol, which makes this difficult. – Do you know if there is a match between the THC level in your blood and the degree of influence? – Roughly speaking, it is. Perhaps not as clearly as for alcohol, but it appears in large materials of investigated persons, says Mørland. Jørg Mørland is currently a senior researcher at the Institute of Public Health and professor emeritus at the University of Oslo. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news Casts doubt on current practice A meta-analysis from 2022 shows, however, that THC concentration in the blood is a “relatively poor” way to measure influence. The largest study conducted with regular cannabis users concludes that there is no correlation between THC levels in the blood and driving performance. In an American research article from 2021, it is advocated that one should not rely on fixed borders – the method used in Norway today. – Such laws cannot claim to be strongly based on current scientific evidence, write the researchers. Before the current limit values were introduced in 2012, individual assessments were made in each individual case where driving under the influence of cannabis was suspected. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Jørg Mørland believes it is important to point out that there is a significant difference between establishing: that there is an increased risk of influence above a given concentration limit, and … that there is a connection between the concentration of THC and the degree of impact – The studies that cast doubt on the use of fixed concentration limits have come to the conclusion that this last connection is weak, he says. Divided by five The limit values for THC were set on the basis of a selection of individual studies where the subjects were not regular users of cannabis. The professional advisory group led by Mørland found that 0.020 micromoles of THC gave approximately the same effect as 1 per thousand of alcohol. They then divided this value by five to find the value that corresponded to the blood alcohol limit of 0.2. – As 0.2 parts per million of alcohol produces very small and few results in impact tests, we found that this would be an acceptable method, says Mørland. One of the studies they relied on found that around 10 per cent of the subjects had impaired performance at the current ban limit. – There was a certain correspondence here which meant that we were relatively confident that that limit was as good as we could get close to a 0.2 limit. – Do you still think that today? – I guess I actually do, considering that THC concentrations of this size can, although not necessarily, lead to an effect – in the same way as a blood alcohol level of 0.2. Today’s ban limit may seem unfair to people who will not be affected by the limit, says Jørg Mørland. Photo: Benjamin Vorland Andersrød / news Old limit retained In his final submission to the Supreme Court, the Attorney General writes that the prohibition limit is based on a research-based knowledge base. – In light of the advisory group’s reports, and the research they are based on, in the prosecutor’s view, it must be assumed that at the time of adoption and reassessment of the criminal liability threshold, there was scientifically based evidence that some people will be affected by THC concentrations in the blood above the threshold of criminality. It was the Ministry of Transport and Communications that set the current limit. They have previously refused to answer news’s questions about the case. They say they cannot comment, because the Supreme Court must assess the legality of the current border. In the bill from 2010, however, the ministry wrote that they did not want to punish drivers who only had residual concentrations of THC in their blood. – To the greatest extent possible, we want to rule out drivers being punished under the Road Traffic Act on the basis of old residual concentrations of substances in the blood where these are so low that they cannot in any way affect the person concerned’s ability to drive the vehicle, wrote the ministry. The Supreme Court will hear the case on 16 November. Do you have any tips, or did you think of something when you read this case? Then I would like to hear from you. You can contact me encrypted via Signal or WhatsApp. You can also reach me by email.
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– Can seem unfair – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
