NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Driving drugged can also mean driving with synthetics in your system, such as the popular Delta products. Prosecutors face challenges in the courtroom getting convictions in Delta-8 cases.
Delta-8 exploded onto the drug scene. You can buy it at the gas station, you can even get it as a gummy. For users, it feels good but for prosecutors, it's giving them a headache.
"People think, 'Hey, if it's sold at the gas station, it must be OK.' And it's not always OK," explained Terry Wood, a Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor in Nashville.
Wood has seen drivers impaired from Delta-8.
"It's just like alcohol. You can buy it legally, but it's going to be impaired, so you need to be careful if you are going to drive," said Wood.
Unlike alcohol, Wood said the signs of impairment are different with Delta-8 and sometimes harder to spot. While alcohol causes stumbling and slurred speech, Delta-8 is more subtle with possible body tremors and eyelid flutters.
Wood said that difference makes it challenging for prosecutors to convince a jury that a driver is impaired due to Delta-8.
"You're dealing with the jurors. Twelve jurors, 12 different experiences, life experiences, 12 different perceptions of what impairment is and what can cause impairment. So, it's tougher for a Delta-8 case or a cannabis case than an alcohol case. Because in an alcohol case, you will see falling down, or you will see common signs of alcohol impairment," explained Wood.
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So, what's in Delta-8 that impairs drivers?
Marijuana is not legal in Tennessee but hemp is. Adding a certain acid to hem gives you Delta-8 and the THC in Delta-8 is what can impair you behind the wheel.
"So, you have a legal product that can make a substance that is impairing."
And the synthetic drug industry is not slowing down. Now there is Delta-9 and Delta-10.
For prosecutors, the focus is educating the public that a synthetic drug can be just as dangerous behind the wheel and that will help them prosecute these cases in court.
"Some people, it may not affect them. Some people it does. It affects everyone differently," explained Wood.
A new Tennessee law cracks dawn on synthetics like Delta-8 with more licensing and regulation.
To buy, you now have to show an ID.