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Panel advances bill to set zero THC tolerance for drivers under 21 amid debate over tests and medical cards
Summary
Sen. Willis Curti's Senate Bill 508 would make any measurable THC in a driver under 21 a per se violation; law enforcement and county attorneys supported the bill citing rising THC involvement in crashes, while opponents warned testing can detect non-impairing metabolites and could criminalize medical users.
Sen. Willis Curti, R-Missoula, introduced Senate Bill 508, which would set the allowable level of THC in the blood of drivers under 21 at zero. "So basically it puts the limit for having THC in your blood for somebody who's under 21 years of age at none," Curti said when he opened the hearing.
Proponents included Colonel Kurt Sager of the Montana Highway Patrol, who said the patrol supports the bill and presented recent data showing increases in THC involvement in impaired-driving metrics from 2020 to 2023: a 6.23 percent rise in DUIs involving THC, a 16.54 percent increase in crashes with THC involved, a 51.16 percent increase in…
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