NM STEPS UP ARRESTS FOR DRUGGED DRIVING

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) The number of police officers in New Mexico trained
to evaluate drivers who are impaired by illegal substances have doubled, and
so have the number of drugged-driving arrests.

Albuquerque Police Sgt. Murray Conrad said the number of arrests are on the
rise because more qualified officers are patrolling the streets.

"The more [trained officers] I get on the street ... is gonna make it that
much easier," he said.

Sgt. Conrad, state coordinator of the Drug Recognition Expert program, said
it was making him angry that drivers stoned on marijuana and little bit of
alcohol were pulled over, but then released because their alcohol levels
weren't high enough for an officer to make a drunken-driving arrest.

Sgt. Conrad said scenes like that happen dozens of times each year because
many law officers are not trained to evaluate drugged drivers - or they
don't feel like spending the time it would take to call someone who is.

With Sgt. Conrad's help, there are now more than 40 drug recognition experts
in New Mexico, with 26 of them working for the Albuquerque Police
Department.

The next step, he said, is beefing up laws concerning drugged driving.

Under New Mexico law, drivers with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 or more
are presumed drunk. However, there is no specific impairment level for
drugs.

In case after case, drug recognition officers must go into court and prove
to a judge that drugged drivers were incapable of safe driving.

Julian Atencio, a forensic scientist with the Albuquerque Police Department,
said it should be illegal for drivers to have "any detectable amount" of
illegal drugs in their system. He said several other states, such as Arizona
and Utah, have such laws on their books.

"Right now, we can prosecute someone for having an illegal drug in their
pocket. But it's much more difficult if they have the drug in their system
and they're driving a two-ton truck," Mr. Atencio said.

Sgt. Conrad said Albuquerque police had been making at least 100 arrests a
year for driving under the influence of drugs, but that number is on the
rise.

Statistics involving drugged-driving cases filed in Bernalillo County
Metropolitan Court aren't available since such numbers are lumped into the
hundreds of other DWI cases involving alcohol.

Officers trained in recognizing drugged drivers use a series of tests to
determine whether someone is under the influence of drugs or inhibiting
prescription medication.

As part of the evaluation, an officer will take a suspect's pulse and
temperature and do an "internal clock test" in which the suspect is asked to
estimate a 30-second passage of time.

Mr. Atencio said time slows down for heroin users, but it's just the
opposite for people using stimulants.

If the officer's evaluation points to drug use, they ask a suspect to take a
blood test. Those who refuse face a losing their driver's license for one
year.