District Attorney Rob Greene has entered into an agreement with Cannabix Technologies for law enforcement here to pilot a THC breathalyzer device. Greene shared a press release from the firm that details the announcement.

“I have no further comment at this time,” he said. The firm is based in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. “The company’s proprietary breath capture and laboratory-based marijuana detection equipment will be used to collect and confirm THC in breath samples,” a statement from the Vancouver-based firm said.

“Cannabix plans to supply two handheld breath collection units to Warren police before the end of the year and such devices will be used in Warren County at the discretion of its police force for up to 3 months or longer.” These devices can be used at the “time of stop” to collect breath samples for THC. Samples collected, the firm says, will be processed at a lab using proprietary hardware.

“Marijuana use is here and has been for decades,” Greene said in the statement. “Pennsylvania has legalized the medical use of marijuana and recreational adult use is right around the corner. “Every state surrounding Pennsylvania has legalized medical marijuana and more importantly, Warren County borders the state of New York which has legalized recreational use. The goal is to keep Warren County citizens safe from impaired drivers.”He explained that people in Pennsylvania cannot legally drive if there is any metabolite in their system. The result is that people who are sober, but used weeks ago, can still be arrested for DUI.

“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Cannabix to assist in testing a breath test device that can detect if an individual has smoked marijuana in the past 2-3 hours,” Greene said. “If this device is proven to be reliable in Pa. Courts, this could be a game changer in keeping our roads safer with new legislation and at the same time, not infringe on citizens’ rights who use marijuana legally and still want to be able to drive a vehicle.

“Warren County looks forward to working with Cannabix on the Pilot Program.”

According to the company, current testing forms don’t distinguish use from minutes ago to use days ago.