PHOENIX — Scientists at a Phoenix-based company are working to create a breath test to detect recent consumption of THC — the major psychoactive component in marijuana.
As legal sales of marijuana spread across the country, the market for the plant has flourished, along with a need for technology that can detect THC impairment.
Marijuana is banned in only three states; 38 states, three territories and the District of Columbia allow medical use of cannabis products, and more than 20 states allow recreational use for adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
“I think especially in states where it’s legalized, we do need a device that can detect whether someone is impaired,” said Kayla Merker, research assistant for ElectraTect, the company working to make such a device.
ElectraTect was founded in 2020 after CEO Evan Darzi and co-founder Neil K. Garg decided to create a company that would focus on the detection of THC, based on their work at UCLA.
Darzi earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arizona State University in medicinal biochemistry. After getting his doctorate from the University of Oregon in 2016, he received a National Institutes of Health grant to work as an organic chemist at UCLA.
After working together, Garg and Darzi realized there’s a greater need for the public to understand the…