California, one of the regions with the highest per capita cannabis use, is inching their way forward towards a cannabis breathalyser. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), are developing chemical tests to build the prototype.
It comes with no surprise that new technology is needed as the current method of drug testing in Australia (detecting for presence – not level of intoxication or impairment) has already been put on blast by many, including the ABC and Sydney Criminal Lawyers.
Australia isn’t the only one lacking, no effective cannabis breathalyser currently exists anywhere in the world – which is fuelling a tech race to develop the first device to accurately measure cannabis impairment. And while a simple app requiring a subject to perform tasks may be a little bit of wishful thinking, the chemists at UCLA have other methods in mind.
UCLA researchers have devised an oxidisation process which could possibly be used to detect the level of THC in a person.
Neil Garg, one of the lead professors behind the research explained the process:
We remove a molecule of hydrogen from THC, that is oxidation. This leads to changes in the colour of the molecule that can be detected.
It does take a slightly different approach. Rather than simply detecting the THC chemical and measuring that, they use electricity to change the structure of the THC, allowing any molecules inside to absorb ultraviolet light, which can then be measured on a different, and detectable wavelength.
We realised the simplest solution is to pump electricity into THC and have a chemical reaction occur that produces a change we can detect. It doesn’t matter what the change is, as long as it is easy to detect.
Although effective in testing THC levels, they’ve still got a long way to go before the method could be used for roadside drug testing.
Several scientific instruments (such as beakers and bunsen burners) are required to conduct the test. Something untrained police officers are unlikely to be able to carry out in a mobile environment.
Whichever company is the first to develop, test, and distribute an effective road-side testing kit for cannabis impairment, will stand to make money. And a lot of it. Which is why it’s no surprise there are plenty of startups around the world looking to cash in, including Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies.
A startup gearing up to manufacture the first #cannabis breathalyzer raised $30 million dollars last week and published a study outlining how the hand-held device would work.#CannabisCommunity https://t.co/4PAp9bpsp1
— Justin Bernstein (@justin_insights) April 28, 2020
You can read the full report from UCLA here – Electrochemical Oxidation of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol: A Simple Strategy for Marijuana Detection.
