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Proponents tell judiciary committee bill would refocus Ohio OVI law to impairment, not metabolites
Summary
Attorney Blaise Katter and other proponents testified in favor of Senate Bill 55, which would change how marijuana-related evidence is used in OVI prosecutions by allowing certain test results (including metabolites and oral-fluid measures) to support an inference of recent use or impairment rather than serving as a per se basis for conviction. K
Attorney Blaise Katter, testifying on behalf of the Ohio State Bar Association and criminal-defense interests, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to reframe Ohio’s approach to marijuana-impaired driving in Senate Bill 55 so that prosecutions focus on impairment rather than the mere presence of metabolites in a person’s body.
"It is criminalizing the mere inactive or non psychoactive ingredient, the marijuana metabolite, which is called carboxy THC," Katter told the committee. He said Ohio currently allows evidence of that metabolite to function as a per se proof of an OVI offense, even though carboxy THC is non‑psychoactive and can remain in fat cells for days, weeks or months after use.
Katter summarized the scientific and policy…
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