Portable drug test a new addition at New Year's DUI checkpoints

[Jesus Malverde]

The upcoming New Year’s crackdown on drunken driving will include a new test for many people who are pulled over — an oral swab that checks for marijuana, cocaine and other drugs.

The voluntary swabbing has been used just 50 times this year. But Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer is pushing to use it at more checkpoints and jails as officials try to limit the number of drivers impaired by substances other than alcohol.

“Traditionally, our office has focused on drunken driving cases,” Feuer said at a news conference Friday. “We’re expanding drug collection and aggressively enforcing all impaired-driving laws.”

Individuals arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs must submit to a blood test. But prosecutors said the eight-minute, portable oral fluids test could eventually become a more effective use of resources in drugged-driving cases.

The test screens for cocaine, benzodiazepine (Xanax), methamphetamine, amphetamines, narcotic analgesics, methadone and THC representative of marijuana usage within the past few hours. City prosecutors have yet to use results from the test as evidence in a case.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-new-years-dui-checkpoints-20131227,0,3004417.story

LAPD To Step Up Patrols Of Drunk, Drugged Drivers Over New Year’s Eve Holiday

The Los Angeles Police Department will be stepping up patrols for impaired drivers over the upcoming New Year’s Eve holiday.
Motorists can expect increased patrols, as well as random checkpoints across the city. In addition to beefing up staffing at local jails, authorities will also be monitoring drugged drivers, which City Attorney Mike Feuer believes are on the rise due to marijuana dispensaries.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/12/27/lapd-to-step-up-patrols-of-drunk-drugged-drivers-over-new-years-eve/

[RC]

1. Land of the Free, my ass.

What have we become, as a country, where we are suspected and presumed guilty of a growing list of "offenses" just by being in public? What happened to presumed innocence, until proved guilty?

[antiquie]

2. Greed. ~ nt

[tritsofme]

3. Is it really possible to test for marijuana usage only within the last few hours?

Not that I think it is necessarily a good standard, but I was under the impression that long term use made testing for current intoxication near impossible.

[jmowreader]

4. Yes, but it takes a blood draw to do it

THC has three chemicals associated with it.

The first is THC-COOH (THC-carboxylic acid). This is the form you find it in the plant, and it's the second-order metabolite. This is not psychoactive, which explains why you don't stay high for a month after smoking weed and also explains why very few people eat raw marijuana salads.

Heating THC-COOH produces THC, whose effects are well known. This is so short-lived it never makes it to your kidneys.

THC first metabolite is 11-OH-THC. This is also psychoactive but it seems to be what actually causes the munchies. This chemical's life in the body is a matter of hours.

So! Test for 11-OH-THC and you can tell whether a driver has smoked weed recently enough to be suffering the effects of it.

[loudsue]

5. Everyone needs Xanax these days....and I know a bunch of people that have Rx for it.

If they didn't, there would be a lot more people asking for SS disability.

[Tikki]

6. GOOD…hope that simple procedure will save lives that holiday...

Too many families have lost loved ones to impaired drivers…


Tikki

[dixiegrrrrl]

7. what they are not saying

is that swab test can be used to collect dna, also.
BIG push on to get "bio-metric" identification of people, which includes dna ( and iris scans)

So there will be increased "DUI checkpoints" where they will be taking "eight-minute, portable oral fluids test"

That should slow traffic down quite a bit.

Hopefully we will see some court cases.

[BobUp]

8. I remember

the olden days when if you were pulled over or went thru a OWI checkpoint, cops would sniff the air coming from inside your car, shine a flashlight on your car's ashtray looking for them little roaches, times sure have changed.

Stay out of the state of New Mexico, they have doggies at border patrol checkpoints, and they're supposed to be really good sniffers.

[Rex]

9. Hmmm...kinda makes papers look tame.

Penis, please.