The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) may have just rolled out the future of roadside drug detection. In a move to enhance the capabilities of law enforcement, the DPS's Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has completed a pilot project exploring the efficacy of two oral fluid testing instruments designed to detect drug-impaired driving. The study's results were submitted to state legislators this month, promising potentially landmark tools in the fight for safer roads, according to the DPS
Under the watchful eye of 57 drug recognition evaluators (DREs) from 41 different agencies, the pilot covered 36 counties and tested devices known as the Abbott SoToxa™ Oral Fluid Mobile Test System and the Dräger DrugTest 5000. These instruments, according to DPS reports, were gauged for ease of use, accuracy, reliability, and practicality. Their sensors were put to the task of detecting recent use of such substances as amphetamines, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, methamphetamines, and opiates — a range reflecting both legal prescriptions and illicit substances, as per the DPS.
With the pilot being voluntary for drivers, DREs would only proceed to request an oral fluid sample after conducting the standard roadside evaluation on those suspected of impairment. Although the results from these tests weren't permissible in court or grounds to arrest for DWI, they were useful in determining probable cause. "Driving while under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol is a threat to every person on the road," OTS Director Mike Hanson said, and indeed, initial testing detected drugs in an alarming 87.2 percent of cases, with over half indicating polydrug use, as stated by the DPS.
