California law enforcement officials observe reporters who've smoked marijuana behind the wheel, fretting over whether accidents will increase if the state approves an initiative to legalize marijuana.

If the city attorney asks you to smoke marijuana and perform a series of driving tests, do you refuse?

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and KABC radio host Peter Tilden sure didn't.

As California prepares to vote on a ballot initiative that would legalize medical marijuana next month, Lopez tells All Things Considered Host Robert Siegel that he had to "take a hit here for science."

As Lopez tells it in his column today, he was asked by Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich to "help determine whether, and how, marijuana impairs driving."

In light of the likely passage of the ballot initiative, Trutanich and law enforcement officials in California are pretty concerned about whether driving high is as bad as driving drunk.

Since Lopez had a prescription for medical marijuana for a bad back, obtained hilariously but legally from a gynecologist, he agreed. (We've noted before how easy it is to get a prescription in California.)

→ keep toking