DUID Victim Network
Education and promoting effective laws to reduce Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUID)
About DUID Victim Voices:
Many voices are heard when a state considers stronger DUID laws. The voices of the marijuana lobby, law enforcement professionals, forensic toxicologists, and drug users typically dominate. DUID Victim Voices represents the interests of the victims of drugged driving, providing fact-based education and a victim perspective to decision makers and to the general public.
Background
All states define alcohol DUI per se with laboratory tests that prove impairment by a blood alcohol level greater than .08 gm/dl for adults and greater than zero (or .02 gm/dl) for minors. Laboratory tests are routinely performed for all suspected alcohol DUI cases. Only 19 states define drug DUI (DUID) per se by objective laboratory tests.
Three additional states have established permissible limits for marijuana’s active THC in drivers, but these limits are a poor substitute for comprehensive drug per se laws. All other states use more difficult, costly, and subjective means to prove DUID on a case-by-case basis, with highly variable results.
Neither is safe but statistics tell us that stoned driving is safer than drunk driving. Marijuana-impaired driving is of particular concern not just because of its inherent danger, but because of its increasing prevalence and a common but falsely-held belief that stoned driving is not dangerous. Marijuana-impaired driving is less deadly than drunk driving, just as a .22 caliber bullet is less deadly than a .45 caliber bullet. But all four can and do kill.
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