Hounds Labs To Launch The First Breathalyzer That Can Detect Marijuana And Alcohol

A California-based startup is gearing up to launch the world’s first-ever breathalyzer capable of detecting both marijuana and alcohol in the field – but skeptics say the tool has some serious flaws.

According to Mashable, the company, Hound Labs, said it will release its handheld breathalyzer commercially this fall with a reported price tag of $5,000.

Its device will be marketed mainly toward law enforcement and construction companies who wish to test citizens and employees for substances in the field and workplace

Its release will mark a particularly momentous step for law enforcement regarding their efforts to quickly quantify the impairment of motorists who they suspect of driving while high — even in states like California where marijuana is legal for recreational use, laws prohibit smokers from operating a vehicle.

Although Hound Labs will be first-to-market with its marijuana breathalyzer, detractors have been quick to point out some apparent flaws in the device’s functionality — drawbacks that the device shares with all of its THC-detecting predecessors.

Among the perceived downfalls of Hound Lab’s tool is, counter intuitively, its sensitivity.

While the device can detect small traces THC on someone’s breath — up to a trillionth of a gram per liter — this also means that very small amounts of marijuana could read like very large amounts.

This sensitivity is potentially important for the same reasons as when measuring one’s blood-alcohol content — that is to say, establishing the difference between half of a beer and six mixed drinks.

Additionally, the science behind how THC affects the body and impairment is difficult to prove and has been understudied due to strict legal guidelines surrounding marijuana.

As Marijuana information database, Leafly, put it, ‘One of the main problems: a breathalyzer cannot actually show a correlation between THC and intoxication.’

Skeptics have also cast some doubt on the science behind Hound Labs breathalyzer.

According to the company, the product was tested jointly in a study with the University of California, San Francisco but the actual report has not been released or peer reviewed.

Hound Labs said it tested 20 people who were asked to ingest their own marijuana in any amount.

As reported by Mashable, Hound Labs has yet to allow journalists or anyone else to test their product, stating that it will be made available once the product is being sold.

Currently law enforcement officials are offered very few options to test for marijuana in the field and the methods that are in use have been deployed to some controversial results.

According to a Vice report in February, a Canadian woman with multiple sclerosis had her car impounded for a week after being pulled over and forced to take a saliva test.

The woman was found not to be impaired by a field sobriety test despite the results coming back positive for THC, yet her license and vehicle were temporarily revoked.

As Hound Labs — which has been developing its device since 2015 — works to get its product to market, other competitors like Cannabix have been keeping stride.

The company recently reported some success in getting its machine to discern between different compounds in subject’s breath.