The House approved a measure Wednesday that would empower law enforcement to use saliva testing for drugs during roadside stops.
The provision, which the House added to S.225, a 42-page omnibus bill on motor vehicles, also sets a 0.05 percent limit for blood alcohol content if a driver is found to have a certain threshold of THC, a chemical associated with marijuana use, in his or her system.
Under the proposal, drivers’ consent to taking a saliva test would be considered implied — a standard already in place for testing impairment levels by breath and blood.
The bill also would allow saliva test results to be used in court cases, as long as the test is taken after the individual has been told of the right to an attorney.
Proponents of the measure argued on the House floor that saliva testing will improve road safety and help crack down on drivers under the influence of drugs. But others questioned the technology, the science supporting the impairment levels, and implications for privacy.
Greg Nagurney, a traffic safety specialist in the Department of State’s Attorneys and Sheriffs, said he expects the bill will help crack down on drugged driving.
“It will finally give us the ability to test a driver that we think is using drugs the same way that we would test a driver that we think has been drinking roadside,” Nagurney said.
Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the group believes the bill is the wrong way to go.
Gilbert questioned the science behind setting impairment levels for drugs besides alcohol. He also questioned the advancement of the technology, especially for use as evidence admissible in court.
“We just don’t think that this proposal is justified,” Gilbert said.
The bill now goes back to the Senate, where the body will decide whether to concur with the House bill or go to a conference committee.
Sen. Dick Mazza, D-Grand Isle, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said his committee had not taken any testimony on the issue of saliva testing.
“I know they put a lot of time into it, but I don’t even know exactly what it does or what it doesn’t do,” Mazza said.
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