Michigan State Police To Conduct Roadside Drug Testing Pilot Program
A Michigan State Police spokesperson confirmed that roadside drug testing will begin in the state this summer. Signed into law last month by Gov. Rick Snyder, the one-year program lets officers administer saliva tests on suspected drivers.
First Lt. Michael Shaw says if a driver is pulled over for a traffic offense and shows signs of being under the influence of drugs –specially trained “drug recognition experts” will conduct traditional field sobriety tests.
Next, the officers will use a saliva-based testing to check drivers to see if they’ve smoked marijuana or used heroin or cocaine.
Police statistics show the total number of traffic crashes involving drugs has reached a decade-high in Michigan.
Shaw said troopers will not be pulling people over indiscriminately.
“Some of the concerns were we were going to just start randomly testing people, and that’s not the case,” he said. “There’s still going to be probable cause for a traffic stop — just like it was….This is just an added component to the probable cause portion of it.”
