San Diego Debuts Mouth Swabs To Detect Drivers High On Pot

A major concern of police about state laws legalizing marijuana has been how to detect when motorists may be driving under the influence of pot — or other drugs. Now San Diego police are joining a growing number of cities relying on mouth swabs for chemical tests to detect drugs in drivers. The swabs and two portable testing machines hit the field Friday night in San Diego, reported CBS-8 TV. It’s the second city in the state after Los Angeles to use the new detection method. The machines test for the presence of marijuana and six other drugs: cocaine, methamphetamine, amphetamine, methadone, opiates and benzodiazepines. The level of intoxication, however, is not determined in the tests. Officer demonstrates new roadside drug testing machine @10News pic.twitter.com/SBcSK7kM7l— Jennifer Delacruz (@10NewsJen) March 16, 2017 Law enforcement officials believe the number of impaired drivers are bound to increase with California’s legalization of marijuana. A study by the state’s Office of Traffic Safety found that 38 percent of drivers killed in car crashes in California in 2014 tested positive for drugs, legal or illegal. That was up 6 percent from the previous year. San Diego began using the Dräger 5000 test after officials met with authorities in Colorado, which legalized marijuana for recreational use in 2014, the San Diego Tribune reported. Canadian authorities began using similar testing swabs and machines from a different compan...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news