CHARLESTON —
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is proposing changing state law to make it clear that police officers can test drivers for drugs just as they test them for alcohol.
The legislation would explicitly permit officers to test for drugs. The current law outlines only that authorities have the right to test for alcohol. While law enforcement authorities welcome the proposal, they say that proving a driver is impaired by drugs remains difficult.
When people are arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, they usually are taken to a station or a precinct for further testing. If they have been drinking and fail a chemical breath test, the case is usually pretty straightforward. But if they are on drugs and pass a breath test — which tests only for alcohol — it becomes difficult to prove that they are impaired.
“It’s not that the police can’t do anything,” said Bob Tipton, the state’s director of highway safety. “They just don’t have tools in their tool belt to deal with drugged driving.”
According to federal figures, one in 10 adults in West Virginia has a drug problem, and that state has the nation’s highest rate of drug overdoses.
About 1,000 drivers were arrested statewide on suspicion of drugged driving last year — accounting for about 10 percent of all DUI arrests, Tipton said.
If drivers refuse to take a test that checks the level of alcohol in their system, it’s the same as failing a test when introduced as evidence in court. Tomblin’s legislation, introduced Friday, applies the same standard to drug tests.
It’s more difficult to determine whether there are drugs in someone’s system than alcohol. Drug testing usually requires more intrusive procedures than breath tests, such as blood or urine tests.
“There’s no test that is not somewhat invasive,” said Joe Barki, the Brooke County prosecutor and a former state trooper. “For alcohol, you can do a breath test. Drugs don’t show up the same way in a breath test. You have to get either a blood or urine test and you can’t force somebody to give you a blood sample, you’d have to get a search warrant in order to get that type of information, which takes time, which decreases the likelihood that something will show up.”
In concert with the new legislation, Tipton said the state police will begin specially training certain officers to serve as experts in drug recognition. These officers would administer examinations, similar to what a nurse might do, to help establish that a driver is impaired. The officer would check things like pulse rate, blood pressure and pupil dilation. If the officer determines that the driver is impaired, they could proceed to further blood and urine testing.
“It’s not intrusive like, ‘Go into a room, put on a hospital gown,”’ Tipton said. “He’s doing more things to test your reflexes and reactions.”
Tipton said that about 20 officers probably would be trained to do the examinations in the first year and a half after the program is introduced.
Sgt. Michael Baylous, a spokesman for the state police, recalls from his time in the field that it was often difficult to prove impairment and said he welcomed any changes that would make drugged driving easier to prove.
“I remember one guy who had been huffing gasoline, and he was obviously impaired but when you have him blow into an Intoximeter it doesn’t show anything,” Baylous said.
Tomblin first announced the legislation at his State of the State address on Wednesday, saying he wanted to make it clear that officers had more power so that when “drivers who are under the influence of drugs are pulled over, they can be properly identified, tested, and removed from our roadways.”
At Tomblin’s request, the legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House of Delegates and has been assigned to committees.
West Virginia
Expanded drug testing on the road proposed
- West Virginia
-
-
State inmates will start farming for food bank
Inmates at seven minimum- and medium-security prisons in West Virginia will be sowing seeds this spring and tending plants this summer as part of a new program to grow produce for the state’s largest food bank.
-
Tax, fee hikes proposed to fund state roads
A commission studying West Virginia’s highway system is proposing tax and fee increases to raise millions of dollars for maintenance and repairs.
-
Rockefeller sponsors new head-injury legislation
A senator who’s long pushed parents, coaches and communities to help protect young athletes from sports-related concussions is now sponsoring federal legislation to set safety standards for helmets.
-
Former hospital executive, nurse to become state DHHR secretary
Former hospital executive and nurse Karen Bowling will become West Virginia’s Health and Human Resources secretary on July 1, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said Wednesday, taking over a sprawling department recently scrutinized by an audit and assigned the daunting task of expanding the state’s Medicaid program.
-
Protesters rally at FirstEnergy annual meeting
At least 200 union workers picketed FirstEnergy’s annual shareholder meeting in West Virginia on Tuesday, demanding the Ohio-based utility hire enough people to keep the power on without forcing an ever-shrinking labor force to work as many as 1,800 hours of overtime a year.
-
Waiver eliminates ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach
West Virginia won limited freedom Monday from the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind, gaining approval of its own method for identifying struggling schools and then devoting resources to improve them.
-
W.Va. gets reprieve from No Child Left Behind law
West Virginia has won some limited freedom from the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.
-
Big decision looms for W.Va. House
West Virginia’s House of Delegates faces a momentous decision after Speaker Rick Thompson departs for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin’s Cabinet: Choosing a new leader will help set the stage for 2014, when Republicans aim to wipe out the Democrats’ ebbing majority.
-
Coin commemorates W.Va.’s 150th birthday
West Virginia is adding a commemorative coin to the celebratory mix for its 150th birthday, the commission overseeing the sesquicentennial activities announced Saturday.
-
Record trout caught in Berkeley County
The Division of Natural Resources says a record rainbow trout was caught in Berkeley County.
DNR director Frank Jezioro says the trout was caught by Tony Corbin of Gerrardstown on May 2 from a private pond. - More West Virginia Headlines
-
State inmates will start farming for food bank
