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.
What has marijuana legalization done to Driving Under the Influence (DUI) cases in Colorado? Important answers are now emerging. July 2018, the Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) released a 106-page report Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol for the year 2016. This first-of-its-kind report and its database enabled us to draw twelve important conclusions.
1 Colorado’s report is the first to show causes of DUI, not just presence of drugs
Coroners … READ MORE
