SBIR-STTR Award

We will develop, evaluate, and disseminate a training program for law enforcement agencies to utilize new drug testing technology to facilitate the detection of drugged drivers. To prevent drug-related traffic accidents, traffic safety officials must be able to detect drivers under-the-influence of drugs as they routinely do now with alcohol detection devices. The availability of new drug-testing devices capable of providing immediate, accurate, and reliable results provides a unique opportunity to apply this technology in traffic safety and the enforcement of drugs and driving laws. This research will establish the commercial potential for the innovative application of on-site drug testing technology. This research will integrate information available from drugs and driving research with new developments in drug testing technology to develop this law enforcement training program. Overall the Phase I feasibility study will consist of the evaluation of devices and procedures which will be accomplished in an experimental field evaluation. The results of the field evaluation will lead to the development of training materials and a training curriculum to be used in several controlled experimental evaluations in Phase II to demonstrate the effectiveness of training in these techniques.National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

The goal of this research is to develop, evaluate, and disseminate cost- efficient training programs for law enforcement agencies utilizing new drug testing technology to facilitate the detection of drugged drivers. To prevent drug-related traffic accidents, officials must be able to detect drivers under-the-influence of drugs as they routinely do now with alcohol detection devices. The availability of new drug-testing devices capable of providing immediate, accurate and reliable results provides a unique opportunity to apply this technology in the enforcement of drugs and driving laws. The proposed research will establish the commercial potential for innovative application of on-site testing technology in drugged driving detection and deterrence. This research plan proposes to integrate information from drug/driving research with results of the phase I feasibility study to develop training materials and curricula both for DUI Officers and breath testing technicians. The research will synthesize the testing technology and procedures into existing instructional programs. This new training will undergo a series of research evaluations and will ultimately be redesigned in an interactive computer (CD ROM) format. These programs will not only increase cost-effectiveness and efficiency of training but will make drunk and drugged driver training much more available to law enforcement agencies across the country.Proposed commercial application:Driving under the influence of illegal drugs has become a serious public health problem. Drugged driving is typically under-reported as law enforcement officials have not bad the technology needed to detect recent use of drugs. New technology has evolved which now permits the on-site urinalysis assessment of recent drug use. Based on these facts, the development of a training curriculum including the application of these new technologies to traffic safety would have great commercial viability with law enforcement and safety officials.Thesaurus termsdrug testing, method development, substance abuse, training alcohol influenced driving, police, vehicular accident behavioral /social science research tag, human tissue, immunologic assay /tesNational Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)