DRIVING WHILE MEDICATED
Officers undergo training to spot a growing problem
Ask any police officer or county coroner in southwestern Pennsylvania how they spend most of their time on the job, and the answer is usually the same — dealing with the aftermath of drugs, both prescription and illegal, that are consuming society in a way never seen before.
Rehabilitation centers and jails are filled with those who find themselves hooked on prescription painkillers, sleeping pills or illegal drugs.
Just as those who abuse drugs find their way into treatment centers or jails — or sometimes morgues — it’s no wonder that they also find their way onto the state’s roadways.
Twenty-two percent of motorists in the U.S. are driving drugged, according to a 2014 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which examined the use of impairment-causing drugs among motorists. Of those, 12 percent had used illegal drugs and 10 percent had taken prescription drugs, the NHTSA found.
Although the dangers of drinking and driving have been well-publicized — largely due to the efforts of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other educational campaigns — the ramifications of driving while taking drugs are not as well-known.
“It’s being recognized more,” said Trooper Craig Johnson, a drug recognition expert with the state police. “People are now finally starting to get it.”
Drugged driving is the latest battle that police are fighting, with many officers across the state gearing up to be trained to recognize the signs of impairment due to drug use, whether from prescription or illegal drugs.
“There is a drug for everything today,” said state police Cpl. Scott Davis, statewide coordinator for the drug recognition programs run by the state police.
The state police adopted the Drug Evaluation and Classification program, developed by NHTSA, in 2004 to train officers to evaluate suspects to determine whether they are driving while impaired by drugs.
Since then, about 129 officers from the state police and municipal departments have been certified as Drug Recognition Experts, or DREs. They are called on by other police to determine whether suspect is impaired and to differentiate between those who are using drugs or alcohol and those who are having a medical emergency or who are mentally ill.
Sgt. Douglas Ogden with the Moon police is one of the few DREs in this area. He recalled being called to the scene of an accident in Robinson by police who were suspicious of the driver.
“She gave signs and symptoms of being impaired, but she was a diabetic,” he said of the driver. “Her blood sugar was low. We got her food, and that impairment disappeared.”
Sgt. Ogden was exercising one of the options given to DREs, the medical rule-out, meaning that while a person might be impaired, it’s not necessarily from drugs or alcohol. He said concussions and other brain injuries also can cause a person to display symptoms of being impaired.
“Our guys can diagnose people with strokes,” Cpl. Davis said. “We can expedite EMS.”
A growing problem
Law enforcement officials are struggling to keep pace with the increasing number of people who are driving drugged, Cpl. Davis said, and there isn’t any time to lose.
A telling statistic that demonstrates the growth of the problem is a comparison of drugged driving in the U.S. in 2007 and 2014. The NHTSA found about 16 percent of drivers were drugged in 2007 compared with the 22 percent in 2014, an increase of about 37 percent in
seven years.
Numbers for Pennsylvania and the region also indicate the problem is growing, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Statewide, 2,773 drug-related vehicle crashes occurred in 2009, with 108 fatalities. By 2013, those numbers had risen to 3,284 drug-related vehicle crashes, with 147 fatalities.
Last year, police made more than 17,000 -drugged-driving arrests across the state.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, all but two counties saw increases in drug-related vehicle crashes and related fatalities from 2009 to 2013.
Only Beaver and Greene counties saw slight decreases. By county, here are the increases in drug-related crashes and fatalities from 2009 to 2013, followed by the number of fatalities in 2013:
• Allegheny from 239 to 305, with six fatalities;
• Westmoreland, from 63 to 70, with six fatalities;
• Washington, from 35 to 60, with one fatality;
• Butler, from 32 to 53, with two fatalities;
• Fayette, from 22 to 31, with three fatalities.
Those rising numbers coincide with what coroners from across the state are saying — that the increase in drug use, especially prescription drugs, is at a crisis level.
"If you take all of the other types of unnatural death and put them together, they don't equal the number of drug overdoses we had in 2013," Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha said last year.
In Westmoreland County, the number of people who have died as a result of drug overdoses rose from 22 in 2002 to 92 in 2013 — an increase of more than 300 percent.
Tough training
To become a certified DRE, officers must undergo hours of instruction and days of clinical training and then get a perfect score on a comprehensive exam.
“It’s known as one of the toughest certifications to get among law enforcement officers,” Cpl. Davis said. “It’s rigorous and difficult. I liken it to the bar exam.”
And, after they are certified, DREs are expected to be on call 24/7 to assist law enforcement throughout the region.
Those who want to receive DRE certification must first complete several training sessions on drunken driving, including how to conduct a breath test and field sobriety testing.
Academic training in the DRE program consists of 72 classroom hours over two weeks, including courses in physiology and vital signs as well as instruction on each of the seven categories of drugs of abuse.
To become a certified DRE, students attend another 10 days of clinical training at drug treatment centers, where patients volunteer to be evaluated.
The clinical training includes a minimum of 12 drug-influence evaluations.
Students identify subjects who are under the influence of drugs in different categories, such as central nervous system depressants, stimulants, cannabis or narcotics. Other categories include hallucinogens, inhalants and dissociative anesthetics, such as PCP.
Students look for specific signs exhibited by various drug categories, Cpl. Davis said, such as rapid heart rate, dilated or constricted pupils, affected muscle tone and other more subtle signs.
Students must memorize the drug matrix, including the classifications of drugs and their array of symptoms, which is complex.
When the training is complete, students take an eightto 12-hour comprehensive final knowledge test in which they must receive a perfect score.
They also must receive recommendations from two DRE instructors before they can qualify for certification.
The certification is valid for two years and must be renewed by, among other requirements, conducting a minimum number of evaluations during that time and attending recertification training.
Dale Niles, chief of the Westfield police in northern Tioga County, traveled more than four hours to Greensburg for DRE training. If he earns certification, Chief Niles would be the only DRE in Tioga or Potter counties.
Chief Niles believes the knowledge he gains about drugs and their effects will be useful on his job.
“Sometimes when you’re working, you make a traffic stop and you can just tell they’re on something,” he said of some drivers. “This gives you a bigger toolbox to use.”
When the DREs leave the program, Cpl. Davis wants to ensure they are recognized as experts, including by the courts.
The program and attendance costs for participants are largely paid for through state and federal grants.
The risks
Pennsylvania draws a distinct line between legally prescribed prescription drugs and illegal drug use.
For illicit drugs, Pennsylvania is one of the states with a “per se” law, meaning that any trace of illegal drugs in a person’s system is presumed to create impairment and can result in a charge of what is now called driving under the influence of drugs, or DUID. The sentencing recommendations are the same as those for drunken driving violations.
“Everybody thinks weed isn’t a bad thing,” Cpl. Davis said. “In studies it shows that it continues to impair a person’s ability to operate a motorcycle or vehicle for up to 24 hours.”
When it comes to legally prescribed drugs, authorities say, it isn’t necessarily the dose or what you’re taking, but how it affects you.
The average person who is taking a therapeutic dose of prescribed medication is unlikely to be impaired, although drugs affect everyone differently, said retired state Trooper Frank Cichra, who now serves as an officer for the Butler Area School District.
Certified in 2007, he was one of the first DREs in the state and has conducted more than 400 DRE evaluations.
“If you listen to the advice of your doctor and your pharmacist, chances are you are going to be fine,” he said. “The problem is when people don’t use it correctly or they are abusing it.”
Cpl. Davis advised that if you are in doubt as to how a prescription drug will affect you, take it at a time when you won’t be driving.
And never mix more than one drug together or take a drug with alcohol without being aware of the interactions, he said.
“We look for impairment. If you’re under the therapeutic dose, you’re probably not going to show signs of impairment,” he said.
“Our job is to find the ones who are impaired but not walking zombies.”
“Our job is to find the ones who are impaired but not walking zombies”
Scott Davis, state police Cpl.