Michigan Considers Roadside Spit Tests for Drug Usage
Police in Michigan are exploring the possibility of using roadside saliva tests for drug usage, similar to breathalyzers, to enhance road safety. The bill proposing this measure was discussed in a state House committee hearing, with supporters emphasizing the importance of such tests as an initial indicator for further confirmation through blood tests.
State Representative Julie Rogers (D-Kalamazoo) is the sponsor of the bill and highlighted the purpose of the saliva tests during the hearing, stating, “If you did the roadside handheld device test, it gave you a positive or negative. That’s all it does is a kind of a green or red light, then you would follow this up with the second oral swab that would be sent to the lab that would give you a more specific result, and that’s the part that would be admissible in court.”
The legislation has already passed the House Government Operations Committee but underwent a follow-up hearing in the Rules Committee due to its implications on Michigan State Police’s rulemaking authority. Rogers and her co-sponsors reiterated that no arrests would be made solely based on saliva tests without additional field sobriety or blood testing.
However, critics like Tim Beck from the Michigan Republican Cannabis Caucus expressed concerns about potential misuse of the system, highlighting that saliva tests alone cannot detect impairment. Beck referred to the bill as a “tool of oppression” and criticized it as “voodoo science.”
Previous Efforts and Findings
This initiative is not the first attempt to address impairment testing for non-alcohol-related substances, particularly following the legalization of recreational adult use marijuana in Michigan in 2018. A pilot program conducted by the Michigan State Police between 2019 and 2020 revealed that around 11% of the saliva tests produced false positives for cannabis usage compared to more reliable blood testing.
In 2022, the state Court of Appeals made a ruling against utilizing court testimony from drug recognition evaluators to determine impairment in intoxicated driving cases. Additionally, in the same year, Michigan State Police temporarily suspended THC toxicology testing due to challenges in distinguishing between THC and CBD usage accurately.
