Your Aug. 24 Pre-Trip: States struggle to detect drivers under the influence of marijuana

Here are five things worth knowing today:

1. As more states are making medical and recreational marijuana use legal, they are finding it is more difficult to detect and prosecute people driving under the influence of the drug, according to a PEW Charitable Trusts report. “While marijuana is the substance, other than alcohol, most frequently found in drivers involved in car accidents, the rate at which it actually causes crashes is unclear,” according to the report. PEW also added that at least 17 states have “per se laws,” which make it legal to have certain levels of THC in one’s body while operating a vehicle. PEW has more.

2. Trucking company Mills Transport will close down Friday, Sept. 25, after 91 years of service, according to The Northern Star.  The owners of the company told The Star that “it was simply no longer viable to make new investment in the business.” According to the report, four generations of the Mills family have run the company since its inception in 1924. The company employs more than 100 staff members, and Mills Transport said it will fulfill its commitment to its existing customers through the end of the business day Sept. 25.

3. A group of residents in Joliet, Ill., are trying to fight a trucking company that wants to move into their neighborhood, according to My Suburban Life. Sun City Transportation hopes to build a 10,000-sq.-ft. facility with four loading docks and a parking lot that can accommodate up to 30 trucks in the Spencer Road Industrial Park, the report said. Residents in the area are protesting the plan, saying they are concerned that area, which already has traffic trouble, will be overrun with trucks. My Suburban Life has more.

4. In an effort to help local police, the San Jose, Calif., government has proposed a new plan to install license plate readers on the city’s garbage trucks, The News Wheel reports. According to the report, the license plate readers will help police crackdown on stolen vehicles. The proposed technology will be put on dump trucks to help police track down stolen cars. “While many people are worried this new technology will infringe on their privacy, the city has clarified that it using garbage trucks as a vehicle for the license plate readers is no different than using a police cruiser,” according to the report.

5. The South Carolina Ports Authority expects a record year in the Charleston area, the Journal of Commerce reports. Authority president Jim Newsome told WJCL that the “booming automotive industry and the growing regional economy are among the reasons this fiscal year should be the best ever.” According to the report, the port serves the BMW plant in Greer and Michelin North America.