As marijuana becomes legal on August 1 in Minnesota, state law enforcement officials are reminding drivers about the consequences of getting behind the wheel while high.
The message shared Tuesday afternoon by Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson was simple.
"Our message is that driving high is a DWI," Jacobson said.
While the message to not drive impaired should seem straightforward, Colonel Matt Langer, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, noted that troopers and officers in Minnesota have recognized a steady increase in drugged driving cases in recent years.
Those cases include those where drivers are under the influence of many substances, including alcohol.
"Drugged driving accounts for just under 7,000 DWI incidents from a period between 2012 and 2016 compared to just under 16,000 incidents from 2017 to 2021," Langer said. "The comparison across those two identical periods of time represents a 127 percent increase in drugged driving on Minnesota's roads."
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The Department of Public Safety is enhancing traffic safety capabilities with substantial funding approved during the most recent legislative session.
That funding includes $10 million in year one to support the drug recognition evaluator program and $5 million each year, ongoing, to take peace officers and have them enroll in that evaluation program.
"Funding was also provided for an oral fluid pilot project," said Office of Traffic Safety Director, Mike Hanson. "Basically the oral fluid project is a device that officers can use roadside to evaluate a driver and confirm their observations of impairment are the direct response of an impairing substance other than alcohol."
Col Langer was asked Tuesday about how troopers will handle the odor or marijuana when the encounter it during a traffic stop.
Langer said there's a similarity between that and a trooper smelling alcohol during a traffic stop.
"Cannabis is very similar but very different in someway," he said. "The smell of cannabis can change when it's fresh or it's burnt. There's also the edible situation so you can't draw every correlation between alcohol and cannabis as one to one, or apples to apples. If troopers encounter a vehicle and it smells like the occupants have been smoking marijuana, you can bet that the trooper's going to be looking into that situation to see if there's a violation."
Concerns about drugged driving come during what's called the "100 deadliest days of summer" on Minnesota roads between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
As of Tuesday, preliminary figures show 46 people have lost their lives in crashes during the first 25 days of the current 100 days.