In a notable move to tighten road-safety laws, Oklahoma lawmakers have passed legislation broadening the state’s impaireddriving statutes to cover not only traditional alcohol but also marijuana and the conditions surrounding its use inside vehicles. Under the new law, designated as Senate Bill 786, any driver who consumes or allows consumption of marijuana, or even breathes secondhand smoke from another’s use, while operating a motor vehicle on a public highway now risks criminal penalties.
The statute explicitly states that it is unlawful for “a person operating a motor vehicle … to consume marijuana or inhale second-hand marijuana smoke due to another person’s consumption of marijuana while operating a motor vehicle on a public highway, street, or alley.” Equally significant is the extension of liability to passengers and the transport of open marijuana containers.
The law disallows any open container of marijuana in the front passenger area of a moving vehicle and holds the driver responsible if passengers are found consuming or possessing marijuana improperly. The text makes it clear that “a person operating a motor vehicle … shall not possess any open container that contains marijuana in the passenger area of the motor vehicle.”
Driving while impaired by any intoxicating substance, including marijuana, continues to fall under Oklahoma’s DUI laws, which already include a “per se” standard: the presence of any amount of marijuana in a driver’s system may be deemed sufficient evidenceofimpairment. The legislative change seeks to correct a perceived gap: law-enforcement officials in Oklahoma have reported rising incidents of drivers impaired by substances other than alcohol and some are pointing to the smell of marijuana during traffic stops as an indicator of those risks.
As one Tulsa County sheriff’s deputy put it, “You’re responsible for that as the operator of that motor vehicle, and you’re going to be held responsible for it.”
What does this mean in practical terms for motorists? If a passenger in the front seat of a vehicle lights up a joint, or even if the driver doesn’t partake but second-hand exposure occurs, the driver could now face charges. If an open marijuanacontainerremains in the driver-accessible area of a moving car, that too is a violation.
Lawmakers intend the statute to mirror analogous alcohol-open-container laws but with a broader scope of “consumption”tocoversmoke inhalation.
Critics of the statute point to the difficulty of objectively proving impairment from marijuana or second-hand smoke. Unlike alcohol, there is no precise, universally accepted roadside metric for THC impairment in Oklahoma.
Defense attorneys caution that while the law may be clear, its enforcement and proof in court will be much more complex. Supporters argue the changes are necessary to keep up with evolving driving-risk patterns and to ensure that all forms of impairment, whetherbyalcohol, legal medical marijuana or other controlled substances, are treated with the seriousness they warrant.
Thestate’shighway-safety agency notes that marijuana canslowreactiontime,impair lane-keeping and reduce attention spans, all deficits hazardous in traffic. For Oklahoma drivers then, the takeaway is clear: even if the driver is not smoking himself, the presence of marijuana use by anyone in the vehicle, or nearby in a way that the driver inhales smoke, could land the driver in legal jeopardy. Even properly-licensed medical-marijuana users mustheedthelaw:possessing the substance is not enough of a safeguard if impairment or inappropriate transport is involved.
As the new rules take root, legal experts expect an uptick in arrests and litigation around these issues, especially where the lines between presence of marijuana and actual impairment blur. Motorists in the state will want to err on the safe side: no smoking in the car, no open containers accessible to the driver and be aware that responsibility extends beyond one’s own conduct to the behavior of the driver’s passengers