Laboratory Evaluation of the Los Angeles Police Department's Drugged Driver Detection Procedures

• NCJ Number: 106315
• Author(s): T E Anderson
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: US Dept of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Admin
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Research Notes

Annotation

The Los Angeles Police Department has developed a rating procedure for detecting drug-impaired drivers and identifying the responsible drug class (e.g., depressant, stimulant, marijuana).

Abstract

In this laboratory evaluation of the procedure, four police drug recognition officers used a modified rating procedure to evaluate subjects administered specified doses of marijuana, valium, and d-amphetamine (at two dose levels each), and secobarbital (at one dose level). Overall, raters were quite accurate in their judgments. For certain drug-dose combinations most subjects were rated as intoxicated, but for others (particularly low doses), most were not. Subjects rated as intoxicated had almost always received a drug, and raters were quite accurate in identifying the responsible drug class. Subjects who had not received a drug were almost always judged not to be intoxicated. 1 table.