Sen. Steve McClure recently introduced Senate Bill 3214 (SB3214), which would be the first bill since the passing of the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis (Pilot) Program Act that would directly target qualifying medical patients by deleting protective language from previously established Acts.

Under the Illinois Vehicle Code, “A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while…the person has, within 2 hours of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle, a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration in the person’s whole blood or other bodily substance as defined in this Code.” SB3214 would continue that paragraph and add, “unless extenuating circumstances exist preventing the transportation of the driver from the scene to an authorized location where blood can be drawn due to the medical condition of the driver or safety issues at the accident location, but in no event shall the period exceed 3 hours after driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle.”

The following paragraph that exempts qualifying patients licensed under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act would be deleted: “Subject to all other requirements and provisions under this Section, this paragraph does not apply to the lawful consumption of cannabis by a qualifying patient licensed under the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Program Act who is in possession of a valid registry card issued under that Act, unless that person is impaired by the use of cannabis.” SB3214 was referred to the Assignments Committee earlier this month.

Currently, the Illinois Vehicle Code presumes:

1. If there was a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of 5 nanograms or more in whole blood or 10 nanograms or more in an other bodily substance as defined in this Section, it shall be presumed that the person was under the influence of cannabis.
2. If there was at that time a tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of less than 5 nanograms in whole blood or less than 10 nanograms in an other bodily substance, such facts shall not give rise to any presumption that the person was or was not under the influence of cannabis, but such fact may be considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the person was under the influence of cannabis.

These presumptions for levels of intoxication and impairment are not backed by science or data. In fact, Illinois has already experienced issues with proper testing when dealing with the amount of THC in the blood. Jan. 31, 2025, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office announced that, because of faulty blood testing methods, it was dismissing charges in 19 cases involving defendants accused of driving under the influence of cannabis. This followed a months-long investigation from the ABC7 I-Team that concluded in December 2024 that some test results from the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Analytical Forensic Testing Laboratory (AFTL) had been deemed unreliable. Last week, the University of Illinois Chicago released an internal investigation report on the faulty Analytical Forensic Testing Laboratory blood tests used in the DUI cases. The faulty blood tests have caused more than a dozen criminal cases to be dropped and potentially jeopardized more than 1,000 cannabis DUI cases in the Chicago metro area. Many of those cases were charged based on results from AFTL testing. The faulty results were unable to distinguish Delta-9 THC from other commonly encountered THC isomers such as Delta-8.

AFTL ceased DUI blood testing in February 2024, and according to ABC7 I-Team, UIC had hired Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP to investigate and create an independent report into concerns and claims made about testing inaccuracies when measuring THC. Approximately 1,600 DUI convictions involving cannabis are now under review because of the potential inaccuracies, which could lead to more appeals, overturned convictions, and the release of individuals from prison.

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