By Doug Cunningham
Michigan State Police say phase two of a roadside drug testing program is underway in every Michigan county. DRE’s, which are officers trained for three weeks to recognize drugged driving, will be able to stop drivers and administer oral swabs to collect fluids for drug testing.
Lieutenant Shannon Sims with the Michigan State Police Field Operations Bureau says these won’t be pretext stops but rather will use minor traffic infractions to randomly test drivers for drugs.
“The public doesn’t have to have fear for that because the swabbing, taking the sample, doesn’t take place until the officer has observed some kind of behavior that would make him suspicious of a driver being under the influence of some type of substance.”
Lt. Sims says the data collected from these stops won’t include the race of the drivers pulled over.
“No, I don’t believe that was a requirement in the first phase. I don’t believe race is one of the – I know that’s not one of the fields that I’ve discussed that we needed to track.”
And with legal recreational marijuana in Michigan, just having THC in your system won’t be enough evidence that you’re impaired. There must be other evidence observed by the officer based on your driving behavior. Berrien County was part of the pilot program done by police last year.
