Side Effects of Marijuana Legalization: Canadian Company To Develop A Cannabis Breathalyzer

Since marijuana is being legalized in a number of states across the U.S. for recreational and medical purposes, the presence of a device that could measure the level of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in an individual has become the need of the hour.

Yahoo News confirms that a Canada-based firm, Cannabix Technologies, Inc., is in the final stages of developing such a breathalyzer device, which will be able to measure the THC levels. THC is a psychoactive element present in cannabis. Cannabix hopes to become the first company to launch their product in the market before their competitors.

Cannabix has not revealed the timeline for when the product will be released for commercial use. However, officials say that the product is currently undergoing internal testing, and a patent has not been issued yet.

Meanwhile, other companies are also trying to develop a cannabis breathalyzer, including Lifeloc Technologies, Inc. "I think the first breathalyzer on the market will be a simple 'yes' or 'no' for the presence of THC at the time of the test, and in that sense it won't provide a quantitative evidential measure," said Lifeloc's CEO Barry Knott, in a statement.

The official launch of a cannabis breathalyzer will eliminate the need to conduct urine and blood tests to assess the amount of THC in an individual's system. A cannabis breathalyzer has become all the more essential due to marijuana legalization. The device is expected to provide an easy way for the law agencies to track people who smoke pot and drive.

So far, there has been no consensus in the U.S. regarding the safe limit for the drivers to smoke pot and drive "safely." While in Montana and Washington, a limit of five nanograms per milliliter limit is imposed, there is no specified limit at all in a number of states.