Pubdate: Fri, 14 Sep 2012
Source: Muskegon Chronicle, The (MI)
Copyright: 2012 The Muskegon Chronicle
Contact: http://www.mlive.com/mailforms/muchronicle/letters/index.ssf
Website: http://www.mlive.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1605
Author: David Eggert

'DRUGGED DRIVING' CRASHES ON THE RISE IN MICHIGAN; POLICE UNDERGOING 
NEW TRAINING TO DETECT SYMPTOMS

LANSING, MI - Alcohol-related crashes may be down in Michigan, but 
there is another equally serious threat to contend with on the road: drugs.

Though alcohol-related crashes have dropped 25 percent from 2006 to 
2011, drug-related accidents in the state are up 22 percent , 
according to an MLive Media Group analysis.

Traffic fatalities involving drugs were up 30 percent over a 
five-year period before dipping by almost 17 percent, or 26 deaths, last year.

Authorities say they may only be scratching the surface in 
identifying the extent of the "drugged driving" problem - one that is 
harder to detect because there is no equivalent roadside breath test 
for cocaine, morphine, Zanax and the like.

"Drug-impaired driving is the most under-reported crime there is," 
said Officer Wes Evans of the Grand Blanc Township Police Department 
outside Flint.

He is among just a few dozen officers in Michigan to have received 
intensive training to recognize and stop motorists under the 
influence of drugs - training the state began pushing in recent years 
after realizing it had a problem on its hands. A number of factors 
could be contributing to the rise in drug-impaired driving.

First, there is a worsening prescription drug addiction problem in 
Michigan and across the U.S., particularly involving painkillers - 
along with the continued challenge posed by newer designer drugs. A 
survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found 
that 16 percent of weekend nighttime drivers, roughly one in six, 
test positive for illicit drugs or medications.

Second, technological advances are helping police labs more easily 
test for and detect drugs in blood samples - possibly meaning a 
problem that has always been there is now showing up more in crash statistics.

"If someone was above the alcohol-level limit, officers did not go on 
for further drug testing," said Michael Harris, a law enforcement 
liaison with the state's Office of Highway Safety Planning, citing 
the extra expense and time for drug testing. "Officers now are 
running across individuals who they suspect are impaired. They do a 
sobriety test, give a preliminary breath test and the reading will be low."

That is where training comes into play.

Drivers with any amount of a Schedule 1 drug in their system - 
zero-tolerance drugs like heroin or LSD, for instance - are 
essentially assumed to have broken the law. To convict someone of 
driving under the influence of Schedule 2, 3 and 4 drugs, however, 
authorities must show signs of impairment.

The state in recent years has stepped up training so police can 
recognize drug-impaired drivers. It was the 47th state to adopt a 
program to intensively train about 15 officers a year in 
drug-recognition techniques.

"There's no breath test for drugs and there never will be a breath 
test for drugs," said Evans, who sought out training on his own in 
2009 before Michigan's program was started. "You have to go by the 
signs and symptoms of impairment that you see." Officers are trained 
to conduct a 12-step process, including checking the driver's eyes and pulse.

Marijuana users have dilated pupils. Oxycodone makes the pupils 
strikingly small or constricted. Stimulants such as cocaine and 
amphetamines can cause people's eyes to be "wide open" and make them jittery.

Drugged drivers often will fail specific balance, walk-and-turn and 
finger-to-nose tests.

The training has been crucial, Evans said.

"When I got certified and came back, it was absolutely amazing what I 
was running into," he said. "I'm not talking about legal prescription 
drugs. I'm talking about Oxycodone (a legal drug) with 
cocaine-morphine mixes. Alcohol mixed with Xanax. Cannabis 
concoctions. Some of these people I don't even know how they were 
alive when you see the lab reports."

Some criminal-defense lawyers, however, are skeptical of the 
motivations behind the state's enforcement efforts.

Patrick Barone, president of the Michigan Association of OWI 
Attorneys, said departments are especially motivated now to get 
officers trained because of falling drunken-driving arrests.

"With declining DUIs, they need to replace that revenue somehow," 
said Barone, whose Birmingham-based law firm specializes exclusively 
in drunken-driving defense.

Law enforcement officials counter that the training is helping remove 
dangerous motorists from the roads.

Evans said his confirmation rate - when the lab confirms his 
suspicions a driver was under the influence of drugs - is at least 97 percent.

Isabella County Prosecutor Larry Burdick, immediate past president of 
the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, said there has 
been a noticeable increase in drug-impaired driver cases coming to 
his office. He also has noticed more accidents related to drug use.

"It's a real concern. It's a real problem," he said.

One possible factor in the rise of cases recently is Michigan's 
voter-approved 2008 law authorizing the use of marijuana for medical 
purposes. The state appeals court ruled earlier this year that the 
law is superseded by the zero-tolerance restrictions against driving 
after using Schedule 1 drugs.

Burdick was hesitant to note any direct correlation between the 
medical marijuana law and the rise in drugged driving cases in his 
county, but said the conclusion could be drawn.

"It's across the board. It's just as much of a problem with 
prescription drugs. There's a problem with people combining drugs ... 
they're combining prescription drugs with illegal drugs. That's 
knocking them for a loop. The interaction is so much worse."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom