Canada: with legalization looming, hopes for breakthrough on marijuana breathalyzers
Companies developing breathalyzers to detect marijuana's main psychoactive ingredient in suspected cannabis-impaired drivers appear to be entering a crowded field as Canada prepares to legalize pot.
Health Minister Jane Philpott announced Wednesday at a special United Nations session on drugs that legislation to begin the process of legalizing and regulating pot will be introduced next spring.
A University of British Columbia engineering professor is the latest to create a breathalyzer she says can detect THC levels in the breath of someone who has smoked pot.
Mina Hoorfar said Wednesday that the hand-held device, about the size of two fingers together, can help police detect the chemical in a driver's breath within seconds, unlike blood analysis or spit tests, which are not immediate.
She said the "microfluidic breath analyzer" costs about $15 to manufacture and is blue-tooth enabled so people can monitor their own THC levels with a cellphone.
"The sniffer,"...
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