Starting today, Michigan police will conduct roadside drug tests

Starting today, 5 Michigan counties will begin conducting roadside drug tests of drivers as part of a new year-long pilot program.

The program begins Wednesday, November 8th in Berrien, Delta, Kent, St. Clair, and Washtenaw counties in Michigan.

According to the Michigan State Police, 26 officers trained as Drug Recognition Experts will be patrolling the five counties, looking for signs of impaired driving. Once they have located a driver exhibiting signs of intoxication, the DRE will pull the vehicle over and, using a handheld drug tester, will test the individual’s saliva for the presence of drugs.

“They’re not going to be randomly pulling people over, they have to have a valid reason,” said Michigan State Police First Lt. Jim Flegel.

“They’re going to be looking for things like weaving in their lane, driving too fast, driving too slow, not using your turn signals — indicators that would indicate that somebody’s driving while impaired,” Flegel continued.

“The only difference with the pilot program is if they determine they’re impaired on some type of drug, they’re going to ask them to submit to the oral fluid swab.”

The handheld saliva tester, called the Alere DDS2 oral fluid test instrument, will test for the number of nanograms per millimeter of drugs a person has in their saliva, and will only be used by the specially trained DRE’s, reported MLive.

The device will test for the following substances:

Amphetamine
Methamphetamine
Opiates
Benzodiazepines
Cocaine
Marijuana.

14 police departments across the 5 counties are participating in the drug testing pilot. The departments involved are as follows:

Berrien County:
Michigan State Police Niles Post
Berrien County Sheriff’s Department
Lincoln Township Police Department

Delta County:
Michigan State Police Gladstone Post
Escanaba Public Safety

Kent County:
Michigan State Police Rockford Post
Grand Rapids Police Department
Kent County Sheriff Department

St. Clair County:
St. Clair County Sheriff Department

Washtenaw County:
Ann Arbor Police Department
University of Michigan Police Department
Washtenaw County Sheriff Department
Pittsfield Township Police Department
Ypsilanti Police Department.

According to the manufacturer’s website, a special swab will notify officers when it has collected enough saliva for testing. The swab will then be inserted into the bottom of the device where it will take around 5 minutes to be tested. Once the swab is tested, a positive or negative result will appear on the display screen.

“Our handheld instrument empowers officers to make informed decisions that will positively impact public safety,” said Scott Taillie, vice president of toxicology at Abbott, the manufacturer of the new drug testing instrument.

When questioned about the policies regarding drivers on a prescribed medication or in possession of a medical marijuana card, Flegel responded by stating that “with either one, you can’t be impaired while driving a vehicle, whether it’s prescription or not.”

“DREs are specially trained on how to deal with that,” he added.

After 1 year of the pilot program, the information gathered will be analyzed and officials will determine whether or not to continue the road side drug testing.

“Because this is a pilot program, we want to make sure everything is accurate,” said Flegel.

“We’re using this instrument and comparing blood results so we can show the accuracy and reliability of the device… We hope to… educate the public about not getting behind the wheel while on drugs,” he continued.