Nevada Law Enforcement Officers Test New “Pot Goggles”

A few members of the Las Vegas media were invited to try “Pot Goggles.” The Nevada Highway Patrol Southern Command parking lot was the location for the experiment. The reporters were able to experience what it’s like to drive stoned.

The Zero Fatalities program hosted the event, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal. The goal of the program is to end traffic fatalities with efforts to raise awareness of how these fatal crashes happen. The program is an initiative by the Nevada Highway Patrol and Clark County School District Police Department.

Trooper Deborah Huff said, “We think it’s going to become a little more prevalent now that it’s legal. People aren’t going to be so hesitant to try it.”

Trooper Huff also said, “Under marijuana impairment, people have a displaced sense of time and distance. What they think is really close up, might not be as close up. So they have problems with reactionary time, problems with stopping at a proper time.”

The reporters each wore the googles with a “fishbowl distortion” effect. Each tried to maneuver tricycles and go-carts. The course was laid out with traffic cones. Other tests with the goggles on included dunking basketballs into trashcans and attempting to walk a straight line.

Trooper Huff also said, “We’ve seen people who are doing 30 miles an hour over the speed limit under the influence of marijuana, and we’ve also seen people who are doing 30 miles per hour under the speed limit. It’s going to be different for everybody.”

Photo: Elaine Wilson/Las Vegas Review-Journal