Drug Impaired Driving Laboratory Toxicology Testing Recommendations

Submitted by: Drug Recognition Expert Section

DRE.04.22

WHEREAS, an alarming number of drivers report driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or a combination thereof (over 30 million in the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health); and

WHEREAS, drugged driving and drug-related crashes, deaths, and injuries continue to occur at an alarming rate; and

WHEREAS, timely, consistent, and accurate drug toxicology testing and reporting are critical components in the overall efforts to deter drugged driving; and

WHEREAS, an increasing number of police officers are being trained to detect drug-impaired drivers through the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) and the Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program; and

WHEREAS, toxicology laboratories are being increasingly requested to conduct toxicological analysis of blood and/or urine of suspected drug-impaired drivers for relevant medicinal, illicit, and synthetic drugs; and

WHEREAS, there is a lack of consistent, comprehensive, toxicology testing of impairment-causing drugs and compounds by laboratories nationwide; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the IACP joins with the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs, and Impairment Division in supporting the testing recommendations set forth in the Recommendations for Toxicological Investigation of Drug-Impaired Driving and Motor Vehicle Fatalities – 2021 Update (D'Orazio, Mohr, Chan – Hosokawa et al, Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 2021) and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Standards Board (ASB) in supporting ASB Standard 120, Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic Toxicological Testing of Blood in Impaired Driving Investigations (First Edition 2021), or updated versions of these documents as they are adopted, that establishes a set of minimum recommendations for the toxicological investigation of suspected alcohol and drug-impaired driving cases and motor vehicle fatalities involving drugs and alcohol; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that all state highway safety offices, law enforcement officials, and DEC Program state coordinators should work in partnership with their toxicology laboratories to obtain the appropriate level of funding and resources needed to use the above mentioned publication recommendations for identifying and testing, at a minimum, Tier 1, and preferably Tier 1 and 2 drugs listed in the publication, using the recommended detection sensitivity, as well as, testing all impaired driver blood samples for drugs, regardless of the determined blood alcohol concentration.