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Drug Impaired Driving Laws
Drugged driving is a growing problem in the United States, but it has not received the same attention as drunk driving. Detecting a drug impaired driver is not easy. There is no national standard equivalent to Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) tests to measure the level of drug impairment.
While all states have drunk driving laws, only some have enacted laws to address drug impairment. This chart provides a broad outline of drug impaired driving laws throughout the U.S.
- 18 states have strict per se laws that forbid any presence of a prohibited substance or drug in the driver's body while in control of the vehicle.
- 2 of these 18 states include this in their drunk driving statute.
- 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the Northern Mariana Islands have Drug Evaluation Classification (DEC) programs that train law enforcement officers to become certified Drug Recognition Experts (DRE) who can identify indicators of impairment. This training also enables officers to better present evidence of drug impairment in court.
| State | Per Se Laws for Drugs (Forbidding Prohibited Substances in Driver's Body) | DEC/DRE Programs (Providing Law Enforcement Training) |
| Alabama | Yes | |
| Alaska | Included in drunk driving statute | Yes |
| Arizona | Yes | Yes |
| Arkansas | Yes | |
| California | Yes | |
| Colorado | Yes | |
| Connecticut | ||
| Delaware | Yes | Yes |
| D.C. | Re-establishing | |
| Florida | Yes | |
| Georgia | Yes | Yes |
| Hawaii | Yes | |
| Idaho | Yes | |
| Illinois | Yes | Yes |
| Indiana | Yes | Yes |
| Iowa | Yes | Yes |
| Kansas | Yes | |
| Kentucky | Yes | |
| Louisiana | Yes | |
| Maine | Yes | |
| Maryland | Yes | |
| Massachusetts | Yes | |
| Michigan | Yes | |
| Minnesota | Yes | Yes |
| Mississippi | Yes | Yes |
| Missouri | Yes | |
| Montana | Limited | |
| Nebraska | Yes | |
| Nevada | Yes | Yes |
| New Hampshire | Yes | |
| New Jersey | Yes | |
| New Mexico | Yes | |
| New York | Yes | |
| North Carolina | Yes | |
| North Dakota | Yes | |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Yes | |
| Ohio | Yes | Yes |
| Oklahoma | Yes | |
| Oregon | Yes | |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Yes |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes |
| South Carolina | Included in drunk driving statute | Yes |
| South Dakota | Yes | |
| Tennessee | ||
| Texas | Yes | |
| Utah | Yes | Yes |
| Vermont | Yes | |
| Virgin Islands | ||
| Virginia | Yes | Yes |
| Washington | Yes | |
| West Virginia | ||
| Wisconsin | Yes | Yes |
| Wyoming | Yes | |
| Total | 18 States | 46 States + D.C., Northern Mariana Islands |
Source: State Highway Safety Offices.