Phoenix company ElectraTect creating marijuana Breathalyzer

Scientists at Phoenix-based company ElectraTect are working to create a marijuana Breathalyzer to detect recent consumption of THC — the major psychoactive component in marijuana.

As marijuana decriminalization spreads across the country, the market for the plant has flourished, along with a need for technology that can detect THC impairment.

Currently, marijuana is completely 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.

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 prior work at UCLA.

Darzi, who was born and raised in Arizona, 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 general public to understand the importance of science in everyday problem-solving.

“I think when people hear about chemistry or science, they kind of shudder and don’t like to think about it,” Darzi said. “So we really wanted to do what we could to sort of bridge that gap. So we did a lot of outreach, including this whole series of organic chemistry coloring books — some are good for kids, and some are good for adults. But what

Professor Garg also did was, he would give lectures in public spaces talking about very simple fundamental chemistry discoveries that led to technologies that we use every day.”

In these lectures, Garg would include examples, one of which was the well-known Breathalyzer.

After an audience member asked why there wasn’t such technology for marijuana yet, Darzi said, “We came back to the lab and asked a bunch of the researchers there, ‘Hey, let’s look into this and see why there isn’t any technology like this.’”

The initial hurdle: At the federal level, marijuana is still considered an illegal Schedule 1 controlled substance — along with heroin, meth and LSD. Obtaining a Drug Enforcement Administration license took a year of paperwork, calls, emails and security, just to be able to conduct research. Then, they tackled the challenge of converting fundamental chemistry into something that could eventually be used in a handheld device.