Clinicians prescribing or recommending cannabis products need to understand that legal use does not equal legal driving, as impairment-based OWI laws apply regardless of product legality. This creates liability concerns for healthcare providers and requires explicit patient counseling about driving restrictions.
Wisconsin’s OWI laws focus on impairment rather than substance legality, meaning patients using legal hemp or medical cannabis can still face charges if impaired while driving. The state uses field sobriety tests and drug recognition expert evaluations to assess impairment, as there are no established blood THC limits for determining driving impairment. Legal hemp products containing trace THC can potentially result in detectable levels that complicate legal proceedings, even when impairment is questionable.
“I always tell patients that ‘legal to use’ never means ‘legal to drive under the influence.’ The disconnect between cannabis legality and driving laws creates a clinical counseling imperative — we must explicitly discuss driving restrictions with every cannabis patient.”
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