Michigan State Police and DNR Conservation Officers search M-13 near the Crow Island State Game Preserve in Zilwaukee Township on June 14, 2018. (Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com file photo)
Recreational marijuana was legalized in Michigan Nov. 6, and the law will take effect Dec. 6.
However, driving while high remains illegal in Michigan.
What will change after Dec. 6 is the ability to be in possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana while driving.
Here are some common questions and answers to driving with marijuana in Michigan.
2.5 ounces of marijuana is weighed out on a scale. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
Saginaw Police Officers arrested the passenger of a car after he tossed a small bag of drugs out the window during a traffic stop on Saginaw's South side, Oct. 14, 2015. (Jeff Schrier | MLive.com file photo)
Q: Can I smoke marijuana in my car?
A: Not when you're driving.
Any form of marijuana consumption -- from smoking to eating edibles -- is still illegal while driving.
"I don't think people appreciate the risk that can come with just smoking a joint and getting behind the wheel," said Alan Kennington, the vice president of George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers with national expertise in the impacts of marijuana legalization on car insurance. "It does affect your ability to drive and I think that's something the general public does not have an appreciation for at this time."
Q: Can I smoke marijuana as a passenger in a car?
A: No. That's also illegal.
A Michigan State Police trooper during a traffic stop. (Courtesy | Michigan State Police)
Q: Can I smoke in my car if it's turned off?
A: Lawyers are advising to treat marijuana consumption like alcohol.
"Treat it like alcohol," said Alex Leonowicz, leader of the Cannabis Industry Group at Howard & Howard. "The idea behind the new ballot initiative is for home consumption."
Q: Can I drive around with weed in my car?
A: Yes.
While consuming marijuana is illegal while driving, transporting marijuana and marijuana products is not illegal. Individuals can have up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana on their person.
"A person can have marihuana and marihuana accessories in the passenger area of a vehicle, so long as the driver is not consuming it, and the driver and any passenger is not smoking it," said Doug Mains, a lawyer with Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn.
However, lawyers caution that drivers should keep marijuana products in a secure location in their vehicle, like a trunk, and ensure that products are sealed to avoid confrontation with police.
"It would need to be sealed. You do not want to give the appearance that you have recently used it," Kennington said.
While there are no stipulations in Proposal 1 for how recreational marijuana should be transported, the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act restricts patients and caregivers to how they can transport marijuana-infused products, Mains said.
Marijuana plants grow in an outdoor green house at HiFi Farms, about a half hour outside of Portland, Sept. 18, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
Q: Can I transport plants in my own car?
A: Yes.
Saginaw Police Detective Matt Gerow, left, and Detective Sgt. Oscar Lopez talk to the driver of a car after they pulled it over for a traffic stop on Saginaw's southeast side, Oct. 14, 2015. (Jeff Schrier | MLive.com file photo)
Q: If I leave my weed in the car and my teenager borrows the car, can they get in trouble for possession?
A: Most likely.
Similar to the way the law treats firearms or minors found with alcohol, the concept of "constructive possession" will also apply to marijuana, Leonowicz said.
"There's going to be an assumption that it's yours," Leonowicz said. "Treat it the same way you'd treat prescription drugs or alcohol."
Green Dragon marijuana flower in the intake room of the Stoney Only shop located just outside of Portland, Oregon, Sept. 17, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
Q: Are there additional penalties for marijuana-impaired driving if there are children in the vehicle?
A: Yes and no, Mains said.
Driving while under the influence of marijuana remains illegal -- and there is an existing law that addresses operating a vehicle under the influence with passengers under the age of 16 that still applies.
The penalty for breaking that law--- MCL 257.625(7) --- still applies, Mains said.
Saginaw Police Detective Matt Gerow, left, searches a vehicle while Detective Sgt. Oscar Lopez and Officer Brian Wilson detain the driver after they pulled it over for a traffic stop on Saginaw's southeast side, Oct. 14, 2015. (Jeff Schrier | MLive.com file photo)
Q: What's going to happen to my car insurance if I get in trouble?
A: Experts say a driving under the influence charge will cause a driver's insurance rates to go up.
Kennington, a personal injury lawyer from South Carolina with national expertise in the impacts of marijuana legalization on car insurance rates, said how Michigan chooses to regulate the penalties for impaired driving will have an impact.
"If they treat it similar to alcohol, then it could lead to an automatic suspension of a license -- and then you could go into high-risk insurance when you get your license back," Kennington said. "That would make premiums go through the roof."
Saginaw Police Officers Tony Teneyuque, left, and Sam Buth test the contents of a small bag of drugs the passenger of a car tossed out the window during a traffic stop on Saginaw's South side, Oct. 14, 2015. (Jeff Schrier | MLive.com file photo)
Q: How are police going to be enforcing the law?
A: The same way they do now: police officers are looking for signs that a driver is impaired.
After police pull you over, if they suspect you are too impaired to drive they will give you field sobriety tests -- similar to what they do if they suspect alcohol use.
If you fail a field sobriety test, the officer will ask that you undergo a blood test if he believes you should face charges for driving under the influence.
Outdoor Cultivation Specialist Richie Brookhart trims leaves off of marijuana plants nearly ready to be harvested at HiFi Farms, about a half hour outside of Portland, Oregon, Sept. 18, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
Q: What if I refuse to take a blood test to detect THC?
A: The police can still suspend your driver's license for refusing to submit to a chemical test due to Michigan's "implied consent" law, Mains said.
"Effectively, by operating a vehicle on public roadways and being arrested for certain offenses, a driver implies consents to have, among other things, their blood tested for alcohol or controlled substances," Mains said.
Michigan State Police are testing the Alere DDS2 oral fluid test instrument to measure for the presence of drugs in drivers' saliva during specific traffic stops where impairment is suspected. (Mark Bugnaski | MLive.com file photo)
Q: Is there a breathalyzer for weed?
A: Police in Michigan have been testing a roadside device that tests saliva for marijuana intoxication in five counties during the past year. The results of the pilot project won't be available until 2019.
Critics say there is no test to show whether a person used marijuana an hour ago or two days ago, due to the persistence of the cannabinoids in the human body.
"We're in a weird spot between an insufficient testing mechanism and more population that's using the product," Leonowicz said.
Marijuana flower at Yerba Buena farm, located about an outside of Portland, Oregon, Sept. 18, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
Q: Is there a legal limit for marijuana -- like 0.08 for alcohol?
A: There is no legal limit for marijuana intoxication in Michigan. Any level of the active chemical in marijuana -- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- detected in the blood stream is enough for authorities to consider charges of driving under the influence.
However, Michigan officials could consider setting such a limit in the future.
In Colorado, drivers with five nanograms of active THC in their blood can be prosecuted for driving under the influence.
In this Tuesday, June 12, 2018, photo, trucks cross the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor, Ontario into Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Q: Can I drive to Canada with my weed?
A: No. Marijuana remains illegal federally. All U.S. borders are policed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which abide by federal law.
A Marijuana flower at HiFi Farms, about a half hour outside of Portland, Oregon, Sept. 18, 2018. (Tanya Moutzalias | MLive.com)
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