On Jan. 1, 2026, I was on the phone with my fiance when he was struck head-on by an under-the-influence driver going down the wrong side of the highway. Fortunately, my fiance survived the horrific incident — however, so many in this same situation do not live to tell the story.
In 2023, a 17-year-old Texan who was driving while high swerved into the wrong lane at 65 mph and crashed head-on into a minivan, killing six people and leaving one paralyzed. When the father of the family, the sole survivor, woke up from the crash, the last thing he remembered was talking to his daughter in the backseat. He then had to be told that his wife, children, and in-laws had lost their lives due to someone else’s utter carelessness.
Unfortunately, stories like these have been magnified as marijuana usage becomes increasingly normalized across our country. Last year, 42% of drivers in fatal crashes tested positive for THC, the psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant. However, despite its prevalence in causing collisions, there is no accurate field test for detecting marijuana in DUI cases. The current tests (breathalyzers, blood alcohol concentration, walk-and-turn, etc.) were specifically designed to determine alcohol content, not marijuana, even though marijuana use impairs driving ability significantly. Currently, the only indication of a driver being high is through an officer’s visual assessment and the alcohol-focused tests.
Penny Nance, the CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, has been calling for congressional and administrative support to develop such a test.
“As the marijuana industry continues to grow in our country, it is long past time for common-sense accountability,” Nance said. “As mothers across the country continue to lose their children to marijuana users driving high, the marijuana industry must invest in creating a roadside field test for law enforcement officers to effectively detect marijuana usage behind the wheel. Not one more man, woman, or child should lose their life to reckless drivers smoking marijuana.”
Driving under the influence is illegal in all states, but if the “influence” is not easily detected, the law is difficult to enforce and, therefore, unlikely to be obeyed. This means that there is likely someone in your community driving high on the same road as your mom, dad, sister, or brother without a serious threat of being caught. The creation of a marijuana field test is necessary to make people think twice about going for a joyride while high.
While there are some scientific barriers in creating a way to detect marijuana, there has been little pressure from the government to kickstart this research. As a consequence, there is a research gap in even evaluating just how damaging marijuana is to highway safety. However, despite the difficulty, it is crucial that action be taken on this front through research and advocacy to protect American lives, especially as marijuana becomes a more accessible drug.
In the coming days, the Department of Justice and the Drug Enforcement Agency will consider rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III in a hearing that follows President Donald Trump’s December executive order calling for the drug’s reclassification. In its current place at Schedule I, marijuana is recognized as having high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. However, shifting to Schedule III would not only provide extensive tax benefits for the marijuana industry, but also claim that the drug has a low potential for abuse and has accepted medical use — both of which are far from true. In fact, marijuana is proven to have lasting negative effects on brain development, fertility, mental health, and much more.
AMERICA’S DRUGGED DRIVING PROBLEM IS REAL — LAW ENFORCEMENT IS STRUGGLING TO KEEP UP
It is imperative that the DOJ and DEA uphold common sense and leave marijuana as a Schedule I drug so that drivers cannot get their hands on it even easier than they already are. However, regardless of the upcoming decision, establishing a marijuana field test will disincentivize driving while high, leading to safer roads as the drug’s prevalence rises.
Marijuana is legal in some capacity in almost all 50 states. It is time for our government to recognize the dangers of this drug and create a field test that will hold under-the-influence drivers accountable. This is not a political issue — this is truly life or death for thousands of innocent people. Inaction has consequences, and American lives will pay the price.
Serenity Porch is CWA’s Young Women for America President at College of the Ozarks and a Government Affairs and Public Policy Fellow focused on this topic.