Drug-impaired driving: Complex challenges may accompany legalization of marijuana

On the I-5 interstate, just south of the Canadian border, Washington State Patrol has a problem with pot.

"It smells like marijuana in the car," Trooper Mallorie Baffa says as she shines her flashlight in the face of a 19-year-old man in a Lexus. He caught her attention by taking a wide turn.

Marijuana has been legal in Washington state for the past two-and-a-half years. But the young driver is under the age of 21 so there's zero-tolerance for any amount of the drug in his system. He could lose his licence and have a conviction on his record for the rest of his life.

"He was impaired," says Baffa. "He was under the influence of marijuana. To be impaired by a substance and to be behind the wheel of a car is not safe."

But after his arrest, the young man insisted there was nothing wrong with his driving or...

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