Marijuana impairment has been a sticking point for police across the country. Determining it is a mixed bag, with most ways only testing if you have smoked marijuana within the past month or so. A urine test or a breathalyzer are not very effective in seeing if someone is high at that very moment.
So in swoops the eyeball scanner. A company called Gaize out of Montana has created a new technology that checks for impairment in the movements of your eyes. It encloses the eyeball in a dark space then shines a light, determining how fast the eye reacts to the stimulus.
“The eyes are the window to the soul. The eyes offer a remarkably clear picture into the mental state of a person. They’re full of involuntary micro-movements and reflex responses that transmit information about someone’s impairment or sobriety,” says the website for the technology.
The company’s founder Ken Fichtler, recently spoke with High Times and has confirmed that some law enforcement agencies have already agree to use the technology. However, like a breathalyzer, the eye scanner cannot be used as evidence in court. It’s simply too easy for other variables beyond THC to get in the way of the results.
As far as impairment tests go, this one feels like our best option so far. Although it’s yet to be seen just how effective it is in determining a high, it will at the very least just focus on the moment of being pulled over, and not be swayed by irrelevant factors like THC levels in the blood.
“It’s being evaluated by some really high profile departments,” Fichtler said to High Times. “They haven’t all adopted it yet, but some have. My hope is that within a couple of years, maybe this is sort of standard practice.”
No start date for when this will be adopted has been announced.
Read the original story at High Times.
