This story has been translated from Spanish and revised from its original version for clarity and length.

Within the first few minutes of 2017, as fireworks lit up the sky, the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes had also arrived after Nevada voters approved so-called "Question 2" in November.

While driving under the influence (DUI) has often been a common topic among authorities in Nevada, there is now another variable: The new marijuana law.  

Marijuana versus alcohol in the body

One of the challenges for law enforcement is that marijuana interacts with the body differently than alcohol.

Dr. Ruben Baler, a Health Scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), said that how long  THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, remains in the body varies for each person.

"The active component of marijuana and its metabolites love fat tissue; therefore, it can remain a long time in the bloodstream," Baler said. "That doesn’t mean that the person is dysfunctional, or that the person has a cognitive malfunction during all of that time, but you can detect it for a long time, so it’s difficult to know how long the cognitive problems of using marijuana last."

Baler, who has been working at NIDA for the past 14 years, says that when a person reaches blood alcohol levels that are illegal for driving, the incapacitating effect could be compared to someone who falls asleep.

Marijuana intoxication, Baler said, has another type of effect.

"It’s a malfunction that causes, as a response, a slower reaction time,” he said. “The individual tends to go out and come back into the corresponding lane while driving, and most troubling perhaps is that there is a dysfunction in the form of an altered way in which a person measures time."

Baler says when it comes to marijuana, there needs to be a chart such as the one that already exists for alcohol that "correlates categorically and rigorously to what the level of mental disturbance is regarding specific levels of what we can measure in saliva, blood or urine."

DUI and marijuana

Michael Rodriguez, a spokesman with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), said that the legal concept of DUI includes anything that affects the ability to maintain control of a vehicle, including medication and drugs including marijuana, cocaine, or heroin.

In Nevada, the penalties for driving under the influence are applied depending on the degree and the number of times the offense has been committed. The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles indicates on its website that penalties may include fines, confiscation of the vehicle, or revocation of a license.

Rodriguez explained that when police suspect that a motorist is under the influence, the officers proceed to obtain evidence and information from the driver. Also, the officer looks to see if the person has red eyes, smells of alcohol or marijuana or has difficulty while speaking.

Then, Rodriguez said, the following three field sobriety tests are performed:

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus, which indicates whether a person can control their eye movements.
• Walk and turn, which consists of having the person walk in a straight line back and forth while counting  aloud.
• One leg stand, in which the driver has to be able to stand on one foot.

If the motorist does not pass these tests, then there is probable cause for an arrest. It isn’t until the person is in jail that the forensic office performs a blood test to obtain evidence in the case.

Rodriguez indicated that the DUI procedure hasn’t changed in the specific case of marijuana.

"For example, in the streets, officers have a breathalyzer, but we don’t have such technology to determine the content, levels, or evidence that the person has smoked," Rodriguez said.

The officer added that even though the driving limit of alcohol in the blood is .08 percent, there is currently no similar scale for marijuana because on a federal level it is still illegal.

Even off the roads, Rodriguez said that there are still many questions up in the air as to how the law will be enforced. What if someone smokes in a hotel room or in their own apartment? What about how it affects the smoker’s neighbors? These and other questions remain unanswered.

"This isn’t clear for the police because the law isn’t very clear," he said.

The new law

Detective Brian Grammas, of the Narcotics Division with Metro, agrees that the community and authorities still have much to learn about the new law.

"We need to educate the community so that laws are understood. We share this information with our patrol officers so they can understand the law and also learn how to educate, so that when dealing with people, we can have everything in order," he said.

To provide more details about the legal use of marijuana for recreational purposes, Grammas addressed the community during a forum on April 5 organized by the Enterprise Area Command of the LVMPD.

The detective explained that now people who are 21 years and older can legally possess one ounce or less of marijuana, which is equivalent to 28.3 grams.In the case of products with concentrated marijuana, such as beverages, oils or edible products, a person can have 1/8 of an ounce, which is 3.5 grams.

Grammas also said that it is legal to have what is commonly referred to as pot "paraphernalia," which are the items that are used while consuming marijuana, such as pipes.

Another aspect of this law is that harvesting marijuana at home is now allowed. Grammas explained that it is legal to possess and grow up to six plants where a person lives until businesses with a license to sell can open their doors to the public, which could happen as early as July.

Grammas emphasized that, while the law indicates that marijuana cannot be consumed or smoked in public spaces, including shops where it is sold and moving vehicles, people can use it in the privacy of their homes or at other person’s home.

Some forum attendees asked what happens if people smoke marijuana in a hotel room or on the balcony of their apartment, how the law affects the process of drug testing in the workplace, and if Metro would respond to complaints from people who are bothered by the smell of marijuana in the event that the neighbors are smoking it.

Grammas said that in these scenarios, the police would not intervene because those are civil matters and that these kind of situations must be resolved between the tenant and the owner of the property, or the employer.

Although Metro plans to hire more than 600 police officers in 2017 who will be assigned to units such as transit, SWAT, K-9 or narcotics, Rodriguez said that there won’t be agents specifically dedicated to deal with issues related to the new marijuana law.

"The goal is to respond to emergencies, but it is the responsibility of all officers, including patrol officers, to watch out for people who are driving under the influence," he said.

The officer reported that, by March 29 of this year, Metro had arrested 1,105 people for DUI, a 3 percent increase in comparison with the 1,075 DUI arrests made before March 29 in 2016.

Of the 118 fatal collisions registered in the Metro jurisdiction in 2016, almost half involved drivers affected by the influence of alcohol or drugs, according to a department press release.

Rulemaking in progress

Lawmakers in Carson City are still debating bills that would govern marijuana usage and business. Here are some examples:

AB135 - The bill removes specific amounts of marijuana in the urine that are above the legal limit, meaning it can only be measured through the blood.

SB344 - The bill requires each edible marijuana produce to be labeled with the amount of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient that it contains. It also limits the amount of THC contained in any single package. It prohibits edible marijuana products that look like candy or may appeal to children. Producers of marijuana-infused cookies and brownies must seal those products in a bag or container that's opaque. Marijuana businesses are also barred from using advertisements that appeal to children.

SB236 - This bill authorizes county commissioners to allow businesses where marijuana can be used, or to issue permits to organizers so marijuana is allowed at special events. It would limit those permits to businesses and events that are restricted to people 21 and older.

Reporter Michelle Rindels contributed to this article.

Feature photo caption: Cannabis plant nearly ready for harvest at Reef Dispensaries, 3400 Western Ave., on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017. Photo by Jeff Scheid.