Pubdate: Tue, 01 Jul 2003 Source: Wausau Daily Herald (WI) Copyright: 2003 Wausau Daily Herald Contact: http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1321 Author: Jessica Bock NEW TEST CHECKS FOR DRUGGED DRIVERS 2 City Officers Trained To Detect Impaired Motorists Two Wausau police officers are using a new 45-minute, 12-step test on the city's streets to evaluate the drugs a driver has used and how it affects judgment on the road. A drugged driver can be just as lethal on the roads as one who has been drinking, says the state Department of Transportation, which coordinates training on the test for police in Wisconsin. Although Wisconsin law prohibits a blood-alcohol level exceeding 0.10 percent, the state has no similar standard for drugs detected through a blood or urine test. A decade ago, authorities focused on people who got behind the wheel drunk. Now officials are rallying against drivers who use drugs, including over-the-counter medications, that impair their ability to observe, react and stay alert on the road. Part of that effort is training police such as Wausau Patrol Officers Ben Bliven and Matt Barnes to become drug recognition experts, or DREs. Drugged drivers can be prosecuted for driving while impaired or for reckless or negligent driving, if it can be proved. The results of tests by DREs give officials evidence that a driver's judgment was impaired. Bliven and Barnes are two of 90 police officers in the state and the only ones in Marathon County who have expertise in drug evaluation and classification. Drug recognition experts use the evaluation after a traffic stop or while investigating a crash to observe and record signs and symptoms that show the person's driving was affected by drugs in his or her system. As more officers are trained and can testify in court as experts, roads will become safer because offenders will be apprehended, Bliven and Barnes said. "We want people to know it's not OK to take drugs and drive," Barnes said. People don't realize that even painkillers or other medications prescribed by their doctor can seriously affect the way they drive, Barnes said. "Talk to your doctor," Bliven said. "Find out how the medication is going to affect you." The University of Tennessee Medical Center analyzed the urine samples of crash-injured drivers for a variety of drugs and found that 40 percent had evidence of drugs in their system, according to the officer's training materials for the program. Bliven and Barnes were selected to train in the five-week course where they learned how a person's appearance, behavior, performance in psychophysical tests, eye exams and vital signs can tell them if they used drugs other than alcohol, such as marijuana, inhalants, stimulants and sedatives. For example, Bliven and Barnes perform the typical field sobriety tests but also check muscle tone, pupil size, pulse and body temperature to detect any drugs in a person's system. A person using a stimulant will have very tense muscles, while a narcotics user's muscles will be relaxed, they said. They also inspect a person's mouth and nose for signs of drugs, such as heat bumps or a green tinge on the tongue. The city of Wausau will not be the only municipality to benefit from Bliven's and Barnes' new expertise. They plan to teach their fellow officers tips on when they can use the test. The Police Department also will be reimbursed by the state when it helps nearby departments arrest drugged drivers. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom