MN Legislature To Determine Fate of Roadside Marijuana Test
Above local highways, the State Patrol posted the most Minnesotan of safe-driving reminders during this holiday season.
“Only the hotdish should be baked — don’t drive high,” read a electronic highway sign.
It’s part of a punny new campaign to try and keep drugged drivers off the road.
“Yes, we want them to get a little bit of a laugh, but mainly it’s to get their attention, draw them to it,” said Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Tyler Milless.
Despite the tone of the signs, Milless says the State Patrol takes drugged driving seriously.
“This holiday season, we know that more and more people are out and about,” he said. “They are attending parties and things like that. So yes, there is an increased focus on impaired driving and again our main goal is to make sure that people get to their destination safely.”
This highway sign — which was displayed during the recent holiday season — was intended to discourage drugged driving.
New Tool
Along with the new campaign, the State Patrol is aiming to put a new drug detection tool to work in 2025.
Minnesota law enforcement agencies have spent about a year piloting a voluntary test program with an oral drug testing system. It functions similar to a Breathalyzer.
When troopers or another law enforcement official pull someone over on suspicion of DWI, they can take an oral saliva swab to test for drug use.
“Within less than 10 minutes, it will provide positive or negatives for six different substances,” Milless said.
Law enforcement officials demonstrate the use of the SoToxa mobile test system. It can test for drug use using an oral swab.
It’s a tool that could help DWI cases hold up under courtroom scrutiny.
However, it can’t be used in the courts unless it’s approved by lawmakers.
“We have until February of [2025] to complete a legislative report, so ultimately, that is going to get passed down to legislators and then they will make the ultimate decision on how we want to move forward with that,” Milless said.
Data from the pilot program is in line with other states that have legalized marijuana, according to Milless.
“The preliminary data that we’ve seen is positive, it is what we expected it to be,” he said.
Law enforcement would like to deploy the system in the field this year.
But, until the laws have been sorted out, you can expect to see more punny highway signs.
“They laugh, it sticks in their memory if we add some humor to it, so … they start sharing that message with others,” Milless said.
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