What’s the future of cannabis innovation? We see things before they happen using our Patent Forecast®. One of those is the development of sobriety tests for what is bound to become a future issue in America. That is, driving while high. Just as people can’t resist it while drunk, there will be people that can’t resist driving while high on cannabis, especially as more states welcome legal cannabis. It wasn’t until recently that breathalyzers detecting THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis that produces a high, were created. For officers to be able to tell if a person is high or not is quite a task and traditional sobriety tests can’t always be relied on. Is there a safe limit for THC detected or will it be like alcohol where there’s a zero-tolerance status in many places?
These are the questions that are currently being worked on. As of now, THC is a zero-tolerance matter. Anyone found with THC in their system while driving will be taken downtown for it. First to come to market was Hound Labs, Inc. of Oakland, Ca. Hound Labs received its first patent for a THC breathalyzer in July of 2017 and since has become the leading assignee in impairment testing for cannabis with 10 total granted patents. In January of 2021, Hound Labs partnered with Avetta to bring on-site recent cannabis use testing to help maintain safety in all areas of the supply chain of jobs, especially those in states with legal recreational use. Hound Labs will assist Avetta marketplace suppliers with their compliance regulations using the Hound Marijuana Breathalyzers which detect THC use within the past few hours.
Now there’s a new sniffer trying to compete in the sobriety testing space - Cannabix Technologies Inc. Cannabix Technologies just received its first patent in January of 2021 and has two (2) pending patent applications for sobriety testing technologies. In February of 2021, Cannabix announced its 3rd generation THC detection breathalyzer, enhancing its usability in the field. Breathalyzers will become more in demand as more states begin to legalize cannabis, just as NY recently did.
Use our Cannabis Patent Forecast® to detect key players in an industry such as Hound Labs and Cannabix Technologies. Start your free trial today!
