By Police1 Staff
LOS ANGELES — Police in California were the first to test out a new device last week intended to catch drivers under the influence of marijuana.
According to RT, police conducted field tests on erratic drivers who were pulled over and volunteered to blow into the device.
Hound Labs, in conjunction with the University of California’s chemistry department, developed the breathalyzer and began testing it with different California police departments.
None of the drivers who tested positive were arrested, but they were not allowed to continue driving.
“We were not trying to arrest people... Sure, we could arrest people and people are arrested every day for driving stoned, but the objective was not to put people in jail but to educate them and use the device if they volunteered so we could get the data,” CEO Mike Lynn told the publication.
The breathalyzer can detect THC on a person’s breath when they have smoked the drug or have eaten food containing it. It also functions as an alcohol breathalyzer.
Cops use a groundbreaking marijuana breathalyzer in first-ever field tests #marijuana https://t.co/cM45hAZH2Z pic.twitter.com/g28MrL6F0C
— 420 NEWS (@42ONEWS) September 13, 2016
The company plans to continue testing the device and hopes to widely distribute it to law enforcement agencies next year.