MAY 2025 | 17 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Yet, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has held that distribution is simply the delivery, whether actual or constructive, of a controlled dangerous substance to another.5 If Billy were convicted of this crime, he would face up to five years in the Oklahoma Department of Corrections and a $20,000 fine.6 Billy’s seemingly harmless action could put him behind bars. THE ALLEGEDLY IMPAIRED DRIVER Maria has a medical condition that requires her to take a daily prescription of medical marijuana. Maria is prescribed medical marijuana and consumes it on Friday. She does not drive after consuming her prescribed cannabis. On Monday, while sitting at a stoplight, Maria was rear-ended by an inattentive driver. When police officers arrived at the scene, they questioned both drivers. Because of the smell of marijuana in Maria’s car and her bloodshot eyes, the officer jumped into suspicion mode and made the unsupported conclusion that Maria was under the influence of marijuana. Maria had just worked an overnight shift, had bad allergies and was extremely tired. She was also legally transporting her prescribed medicine in the car. However, the officer arrested Maria and gave her the option to submit to a blood test. Maria lawfully possessed medical marijuana and knew she was not under the influence of anything, so she submitted to the blood draw after her arrest. Oklahoma law is quite clear: Driving with any registrable amount of marijuana in your system is illegal.7 Whether it was legally prescribed or not has no bearing on an officer’s ability to find probable cause that a person committed a DUI. While at first, this might seem like a common-sense policy to make our roads safer, it leaves no room for major differences in how marijuana affects the body and how impairment is measured. Our no-tolerance per se DUI laws passed in 2013 treat marijuana consumption by the federal standard. Since
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