Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 2010 Source: Helena Independent Record (MT) Copyright: 2010 Helena Independent Record Contact: http://helenair.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1187 Author: John Emeigh HIGHWAY PATROL TEACHING OFFICERS TO DETERMINE IF DRIVERS ARE UNDER INFLUENCE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS BUTTE - As more and more people obtain medical marijuana cards, Montana law enforcement is focusing its training on detecting drugged drivers. While police are trained to detect if a motorist is drunk, the Montana Highway Patrol is also teaching its officers how to determine whether a driver is under the influence of prescription drugs or marijuana. Kurt Sager, a drug recognition expert for the Montana Highway Patrol, said some motorists are putting the public in danger by driving after ingesting prescription drugs or medical marijuana. He said it is illegal to driving under the influence of any drug, whether the drug is legal or not. "People think if it's a prescription or recommended by a doctor, that it can't be bad (to drive on)," Sager said. Marijuana and some prescription drugs can impair a person's ability to drive and can lead to crashes. Sager said that marijuana-related crashes have increased over the past three years in Montana. In 2007, 32 traffic fatalities involved cannabis, according to Sager. Fatal accidents involving marijuana increased by one to 33 in 2008, and last year, the patrol tallied 39 marijuana-related fatalities, according to patrol statistics. The Montana Crime Lab in Missoula received 1,480 blood samples in 2009 for DUI-related investigations, Sager reported. Of those samples, 231 tested positive for marijuana, which is about 15 percent of the samples. "We have to let people know that it's not socially acceptable to driving under the influence of any drug or alcohol," Sager said. Officers determine if a person is drunk by using the Standardized Field Sobriety Test, which involves having a motorist perform three exercises. Now, officers also are being trained to detect drug impairment through a test called Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement, or ARIDE. Under ARIDE, two additional exercises are designed to detect possible narcotics impairment. The field sobriety test for alcohol impairment requires the driver to walk a straight line and turn and to balance on one leg, along with the horizontal gaze nystagmus, which detects jerky movements of the eye. The ARIDE tests adds an exercise that has motorists stand with their feet together, arms at their sides, and lean their head back with their eyes closed. Sager said if the officer observes swaying, that could be a sign of drug influence. A second exercise has the subject follow the officer's finger in an attempt to make the subject go cross-eyed. Sager explained that some drug effects make it impossible to go cross-eyed. Butte-Silver Bow Chief Deputy Assistant County Attorney Samm Cox said the more training police have in drug detection, the better chance he will have getting DUI convictions. "We get convictions by the better collection of evidence from a trained officer," Cox said. And while alcohol-related DUI charges often come with blood-alcohol test results, Cox said he is just as likely to get convictions of those suspected of driving under the influence of drugs or marijuana. Capt. Gary Becker of the patrol's Butte District said officers probably encountered motorists who were under the influence of some type of drug, but didn't have the proper training to recognize it. The updated training is helping that. "The better we are at detecting impairment, the safer everyone on the road is," Becker said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D