ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Months after Minnesota legalized marijuana for adults, the state’s Office of Traffic Safety is pilot testing products that aim to help law enforcement officers identify drivers who are high.
“We’re not looking to find somebody who used 10 days or 14 days ago. We’re looking for somebody who used within the last couple of hours,” said Mike Hanson, the director of the office, which is part of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The oral fluid, or saliva-based, tests will screen for six different drug categories, including cannabis and opioids.
Hanson said the devices will be used similarly to breathalyzer tests. The pilot program will be used for data-gathering purposes, so the samples will be taken voluntary and won’t be used to make arrests or get a driver’s license suspended or revoked.
The devices will be given to drug recognition evaluators, or DREs, across Minnesota – specialized law enforcement officers who are trained to recognize someone who’s under the influence of something other than alcohol. Minnesota currently has about 320 DREs, a third of which are state troopers, and the rest are from local police departments and sheriff’s offices. A month from now, officers will have these devices in hand.
“We’re going to get a good sampling not only in metro areas, but also in the greater Minnesota areas that will give us an idea of how prevalent drug impaired driving is on our roads,” Hanson said.
State data shows drugged driving…
