NEW: Watson Tests Positive for Marijuana, Cocaine
Friday, June 03, 2011
Former House Minority Leader Robert A. Watson has tested positive for cocaine and marijuana from an April 22 incident in Connecticut, according to East Haven, CT, police.
Watson had been stopped by an East Haven police officer on Route 80. At the time, he was charged with DUI, although a breath test at the scene placed Watson's blood alcohol content at 0.05 percent (the legal limit in CT is 0.08 percent).
The results of a voluntary urine test showing Watson's blood alcohol was 0.07 were released in late May, according to police.
Today, according to Deputy Chief John Mannion, a narcotics screen on that urine sample revealed the presence of cocaine and THC, a chemical compound in marijuana.
The exact amount of these substances in Watson's urine was not released by the Connecticut Toxicological Lab in Hartford, CT, to the East Haven Police. "There is no percentage or ratio or amount for these drugs," according to the East Haven Police Department. "They are illegal to possess and therefore if they are in your system, you are 'Under the Influence of Drugs.'"
"It validates the arrest for driving under the influence because he is under the influence of narcotics," said Deputy Chief Mannion. "This also validates his possession of marijuana, which he admitted."
Watson's assertion that the marijuana was of a medical nature brought this comment from Mannion: "That's nonsense for us."
Watson is due to be arraigned Tuesday in New Haven Superior Court.