State tries streamlining roadside drug detection

ST. PAUL, Minn. –The Minnesota State Patrol is pilot-testing devices designed to check on the spot whether a motorist is loopy on drugs. The current checks are an arresting officer’s impression, which the courts say isn’t scientific enough. If new devices are proven reliable, roadside tests for drugs could be almost as quick as the current breathalyzers for alcohol impairment. The new devices, which cost $5,000 each, require a swab from the mouth. They yield a reading in seconds. The current court-accepted practice for drug testing is to haul a suspected person to a police station for a blood draw. The sample then is shipped to a state lab for evaluation. The turn-around typically is three-days. The Patrol’s traffic safety director, Mike Hanson, said the new collection devices are touted by the manufacturers as capable for measuring levels of marijuana, cocaine, opioids, amphetamine, methamphetamine and benzodiazepine. Two such devices are on the market:

> Sotoxa Mobile Test System, from Illinois-based Abbott Labs.

> DrugTest 5000, from Drager Global of Germany.

While the purpose of the devices is akin to current breathalyzers that detect alcohol levels. they are much more complex  – and expensive. Basic breathalyzers cost less than $100. The breathing tubes for each breathakyzer test cost about a dime. Abbott and Drager list their drug-test devices at $5,000.

How it works. A swab, built into a wand, picks up saliva. The swab then is inserted. into a measuring instrument, which in this example is a blue Drager device.