Starting next year, law enforcement officials and curious smokers alike will be able to buy marijuana breathalyzers, NBC Bay Area reported Tuesday. Hound Labs, a start-up based in Oakland, California, developed the product in anticipation of the Golden State's legalization of recreational marijuana on Jan. 1, 2018.
Hound Labs' breathalyzer measures the amount of THC — the main psychoactive compound in marijuana — present in a person's breath. The device could revolutionize law enforcement's ability to accurately identify stoned drivers, as other methods of testing like urine tests and hair tests do not account for how long the drug has been in a driver's system, NBC Bay Area explains.
By comparison, Hound Labs' breathalyzer, which is one of two prominent breathalyzers that is coming to market soon, is able to give a more accurate assessment of a smoker's inebriation because of its unique method of measuring THC. Where other methods test only for marijuana's presence in a person's system — which can be misleading, given THC's ability to linger in the body — Hound Labs' device instead works by measuring particles of THC present in a driver's breath in parts per trillion.
The Hound Labs breathalyzer is expected to cost between $500 and $1,000. Take a look at the product here. Kelly O'Meara Morales
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Sunday pushed back on calls for a second referendum on Brexit, the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union.
May particularly condemned remarks from former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who said this week a new vote should be considered if "none of the other options work." May accused Blair of "seek[ing] to undermine our negotiations by advocating for a second referendum," arguing "Parliament has a democratic duty to deliver what the British people voted for."
May's proposed Brexit deal with the EU has stalled, lacking support to pass a House of Commons vote. Bonnie Kristian
The North Korean government on Sunday issued a typically dramatic statement condemning the United States' sanction regime and suggesting denuclearization plans are in jeopardy.
Pyongyang accused the U.S. State Department of being "bent on bringing [North Korea]-U.S. relations back to the status of last year which was marked by exchanges of fire," warning that additional U.S. sanctions would be America's "greatest miscalculation" and would "block the path to denuclearization on the Korean peninsula forever."
This comes as Pyongyang observes the seventh anniversary of the death of former leader Kim Jong Il and the rise to power of his son, current leader Kim Jong Un. Bonnie Kristian
Negotiators representing nearly 200 nations in Katowice, Poland, on Saturday agreed to universal greenhouse gas emissions limits intended to mitigate global climate change.
"It is not easy to find agreement on a deal so specific and technical," said Polish economist Michal Kurtyka, who is leading the United Nations negotiations. "Through this package you have made a thousand little steps forward together," he told the assembled delegates. "You can feel proud."
U.S. negotiators sought to label coal a possible source of clean energy but also pushed for transparency and rules which apply equally to all participant nations. "Overall, the U.S. role here has been somewhat schizophrenic — pushing coal and dissing science on the one hand, but also working hard in the room for strong transparency rules," Elliot Diringer of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions told The Associated Press. "[T]he U.S. pushed harder than nearly anyone else for transparency rules that put all countries under the same system, and it's largely succeeded." Bonnie Kristian
