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The Institute for Behavior and Health has identified several initiatives that hold the most promise for real progress in reducing Drugged Driving. These initiatives will both reduce highway casualties and reduce illegal drug use. We have listed several of these ideas below and we encourage you to learn more about each one.

The Institute for Behavior and Health recommends that you read its Public Policy Statement regarding drugged drivers to learn more about the ideas IBH believes will contribute significantly to eliminating drugged driving as a highway safety threat.

Drugged Driving is unfortunately a global problem, and many countries are confronting this growing threat with tough legislation and enforcement and by educating the driving public as to the dangers of Driving Drugged. Gain an International Perspective.

We also welcome your suggestions for additional ways to combat the Drugged Driving epidemic. If you would like to contribute to our discussion forum, please see the forum section below.



Public Policy Statement

IBH Public Policy Statement Regarding Drugged Drivers

June 12, 2008
Contact: Robert L. DuPont, M.D.

Background

On the nation’s highways, drugged driving now poses a danger on the scale of the better-known problem of drunk driving. In a recent study of seriously injured drivers at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, 5l% of the sample tested positive for illegal drugs, compared to 34% who tested positive for alcohol.1 A recent SAMHSA study found that nearly 11 million people drove under the influence of drugs during the past year.2

Drugged driving is particularly prevelant among younger drivers. Monitoring the Future showed that 30% of teens have driven impaired or been a passenger of an impaired driver in the last two weeks.3 The publication of the data analysis entitled, “Drugs and Driving by American High School Seniors 2001-2006”, found that 13 percent of seniors said they drove after using marijuana while 10 percent said they drove after having five or more drinks in the prior two weeks.

The per se standard states that the presence of any detectable amount of a controlled substance in an impaired driver’s body fluids constitutes per se evidence of drug-induced impairment, DUI (driving under the influence) of drugs, or ‘drugged driving’. This has been the standard for commercial drivers in the US since 1988. It is the standard widely used in the developed world outside the US, including western European nations, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The benefit of a per se standard is that prosecutors do not have to meet more complex standards of guilt: drivers know the standard and that they must abstain before getting behind the wheel, or face the risk of a conviction for DUI.

More effective measures to prevent drugged driving not only will increase safety on the nation’s roads and highways, but they will provide an important new avenue into treatment for those with substance use disorders, just as drunk driving arrests now provide alcoholics with a route into treatment.

Recommendations

  1. The first priority, on the state and federal levels, is to more accurately determine the scope and seriousness of the drugged driving epidemic. To that end, driver drug testing must become as ubiquitous and commonplace as Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) testing is today.
  2. All states should enact per se drugged driving legislation, as almost one-third have done as of 2008.
  3. The following are appropriate opportunities for conducting drug tests on drivers:
    • Drivers should be drug tested when there is suspicion of impairment, even in those cases where the presence of alcohol has been detected.
    • Drivers identified as impaired who do not have a BAC over the legal limit should be tested for drug use.
    • Drug testing should be done along with BAC testing at all sobriety checkpoints.
    • Drivers involved with fatal car accidents, and accidents resulting in serious injuries, should be required to submit to drug testing and BAC testing either at the scene of the accident or at the hospital.
  4. Drivers found guilty of drugged driving should be screened for their need of substance use disorders treatment, and they should be carefully monitored with random drug tests as a condition of regaining and then retaining their drivers’ licenses.
  5. Drivers who test positive for both alcohol and unauthorized drug use while driving should be charged with an aggravated offense, with penalties greater than for either alcohol-impaired driving or drug-impaired driving alone.
  6. All states should accept drug and alcohol tests from all matrices including oral fluids, urine, sweat, and blood, both for data collection purposes and as evidence in legal proceedings.

  1. J. Michael Walsh, Ron Flegel, Randolph Atkins, Leo A. Cangianelli, Carnell Cooper, Christopher Welsh and Timothy J. Kerns, Drug and Alcohol Use Among Drivers Admitted to a Level-1 Trauma Center, Accident Analysis and Prevention, Volume 37, Issue 5, Pages 894-901 (September 2005)
    2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2007). Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings (Office of Applied Studies, NSDUH Series H-32, DHHS Publication No. SMA 07-4293). Rockville, MD.
  2. O’Malley, P.M. and Johnston, L. D. Drugs and Driving by American High School Seniors, 2001-2006, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs68(6):834-842.
-Robert L. DuPont, M.D., is president of the Institute for Behavior and Health. He is a former White House Drug Czar and former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

-Established in 1978, the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. (IBH) is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization. IBH is a national leader in the development of new ideas to reduce illegal drug use. In recent years IBH has targeted drugged driving, school-based drug abuse prevention programs, policies that emphasize prevention and investment in better treatment approaches. Non-partisan and non-political, IBH serves as a catalyst for change.
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Initiatives
  1. Have per se Drugged Driving legislation adopted in all fifty states. Per se legislation makes it illegal for drivers to have any detectable level of drug(s) in their system. To learn more about the per se standard you can read about the current Drugged Driving Legislation in all 50 states, or visit our Legal webpage.

  2. Test all seriously injured and fatally injured drivers for the presence of drugs of abuse. Currently 35 states have made it a requirement to test fatally injured drivers for alcohol and report the results to federal agencies. All states must mandate that fatally and seriously injured drivers are tested for drugs and alcohol. This ensures that the states have an accurate and reliable picture of the impaired driving problem, and also that drug and alcohol abusers are identified and treated before they can do more harm to themselves and other. Read more about this initiative on our Legal webpage.

    3. Oral Fluids Testing Can be a fast and convenient way to check for the presence of drugs
  3. Drug test all drivers suspected of impairment. Currently all drivers suspected of driving impaired are asked to submit to a Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST), and are asked to submit to a Breathalyzer but are not required to do so. In addition to these tests drivers must be asked to submit to a drug test to identify recent use of one or more drugs of abuse. Learn more about breathalysers and drug tests on our Enforcement webpage.

  4. Drivers should be subject to drug tests when there is evidence of or admission of recent drug use including finding drugs or drug paraphernalia in the car.
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International Perspective

The harmful and deadly effects of drugged drivers are being felt around the world. Virtually every nation on Earth is beginning to see increased numbers of drugged driving related injuries and deaths. Fortunately, many countries have begun to address this growing threat by enacting tough drugged driving legislation, ramping up enforcement efforts, and educating the public about the grave risks associated with driving drugged.

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Discussion Forum

StopDruggedDriving.org welcomes submissions to the Forum. Submissions should pertain to original and innovative ideas for combating drugged driving. Possible topics might include: effecting positive change on the local, state, or federal level; new ways to detect Drugged Drivers; effective treatment options for rehabilitating drugged drivers; personal accounts of the deleterious effects of Drugged Driving, etc.

Please limit your submissions to 600 words. Please include your name and professional affiliation, if any. Anonymous submissions will not be considered for publication on this site. Submit your constructive ideas to Robert Walker.

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