Today, driving with an open container of alcohol in the car is prohibited under Massachusetts law. Driving with an open bag of marijuana in the car is not.

A commission looking at the state’s drunk driving laws wants to similarly prohibit driving with an open container of marijuana, making it a civil infraction punishable by a $500 fine.

John Scheft, an attorney with Bellotti Law Group and a member of a Special Commission on Operating Under the Influence and Impaired Driving, said one survey of Arlington high school students found that students are most likely to smoke marijuana in a car, since they cannot smoke at home or in school.

“You give out a few $500 tickets, I’m not saying people won’t do weed, but they won’t do it in a car,” Scheft said at a recent commission meeting.

The OUI commission, formed by the state’s marijuana legalization law, was tasked with studying a range of issues related to operating under the influence of drugs. This includes looking at the types of drug testing that are available, the civil liberties of drivers, the admissibility of evidence in court, the burden on police, the cost of testing and other topics.

The group issued its final report Wednesday.

As The Republican/MassLive.com previously reported, the most significant recommendation included in the report is that a driver who refuses to take a roadside drug test should have their license suspended for six months, the same as a driver who refuses a breathalyzer test for alcohol.

The commission also voted unanimously to apply the state’s open container law to marijuana, despite concerns over how it would be implemented.

Matt Allen, field director of the Massachusetts ACLU, said the alcohol law defines an open container as one where the seal is broken and the contents are partially consumed.

“I’m not sure how that applies to a bag of cannabis,” Allen said at a meeting last Friday.

Massachusetts Undersecretary for Law Enforcement Jennifer Queally added, “We’ve all seen people smoking a joint at the red light next to us, and clearly that’s open container, but then the question gets what about the edibles, what about some of the oils?”

Defense attorney Peter Elikann said someone could leave an open bag of marijuana or chocolate bar in a car for weeks. But Walpole Police Chief John Carmichael responded that if someone wants to keep marijuana in their car, they can put it in the trunk or glove compartment.

The commission also recommended providing resources for more training for police officers in identifying and arresting impaired drivers. It recommended training more drug recognition experts, police officers certified in identifying drug-impaired drivers, and allowing drug recognition experts to testify as expert witnesses in court.

The commission recommended launching a public awareness campaign about the dangers of impaired driving and about the safe use of cannabis. It also recommended requiring marijuana stores to provide educational material to customers.

The commission considered a recommendation to make evidence from saliva tests admissible in court, but decided to continue to study the technology because it is not yet at the point that it can pinpoint when someone used marijuana.

The commission also spent time considering how a blood test should be administered if someone is stopped on the side of the road and consents to a blood test. It recommended requiring hospitals to draw blood, while establishing rules where the hospital is compensated and protected from liability.

It also recommended allowing the use of electronic warrants to obtain a blood test.

Now, Carmichael said, officers have to go to the police station to write a warrant, then go to a clerk. The process can be burdensome, and someone’s body can process the drugs during that time.

Any recommendations made by the commission will go to the state Legislature for consideration.