Police in Ocean City, Maryland say they received an “overwhelming” number people who want to volunteer to smoke marijuana and drive a vehicle in a controlled setting for DUI recognition training purposes—with the added promise of a free lunch for participants.
Just seven hours after the Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) posted on Facebook that they were soliciting volunteers for the cannabis-impaired driving exercise, the agency on Tuesday followed up by advising the public that they had more than enough sign-ups and would not be accepting additional applications.
The department’s original post said they would be partnering with Cannabis Green Lab for the annual Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) Zero Deaths DUI Conference. OCPD said it was looking to recruit 12-14 volunteers “to smoke cannabis for educational purposes while officers learn to recognize cannabis impairment.”
“The Green Lab helps both officers and participants better understand the effects and levels of impairment caused by cannabis, all in a safe, controlled setting,” it said.
Participants who are ultimately selected will need to bring their own cannabis to smoke prior to the driving exercise—but OCPD said the department will be providing free lunch to volunteers courtesy of MHSO.
Of course, driving while impaired is illegal in states that have legalized cannabis and in those that still maintain criminalization, so OCPD advised that a shuttle service will be available for participants when the exercise (and lunch time) is over.
“We’ll have about 40 student officers participating, so it’s a great way to help train the next generation of law enforcement safely and responsibly,” the department said.
Marijuana Moment reached out to OCPD for an estimate of how many sign-ups it received prior to closing the application window, but a representative was not immediately available.
Following the legalization of adult-use marijuana in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore (D) allowed a bill to become law that prevents police from using the odor or possession of cannabis alone as the basis of a search.
Earlier this year, local officials in Montgomery County—the state’s most populous county—said they were moving to loosen marijuana policies for would-be police officers in an effort to boost recruitment amid a staffing shortage.
Meanwhile, the governor recently said that, while he’s proud that he received more votes than any prior gubernatorial candidate in the state when he was elected, there was “one thing that beat me on the ballot” in 2022: Marijuana legalization.
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