II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2480

To amend title 23, United States Code, to research and prevent drug impaired 

driving. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 21, 2004

Mr. GRASSLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL

To amend title 23, United States Code, to research and 

prevent drug impaired driving.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Impaired Driving 

5 Research and Prevention Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) driving under the influence of, or after hav9 ing used, illegal drugs has become a significant 

10 problem worldwide; 
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1 (2) in 2002, over 35,000,000 persons in the 

2 United States aged 12 or older had used illegal 

3 drugs in the past year and almost 11,000,000 of 

4 these persons (5 percent of the total population of 

5 the United States aged 12 or older and 31 percent 

6 of past year illicit drug users) had driven under the 

7 influence of, or after having used, illegal drugs in 

8 the past year; 

9 (3) research has established that abuse of a 

10 number of drugs can impair driving performance; 

11 (4) according to the National Highway Traffic 

12 Safety Administration, illegal drugs (often in com13 bination with alcohol) are used by approximately 10 

14 to 22 percent of drivers involved in all motor vehicles 

15 crashes; 

16 (5) drug impaired drivers are less frequently 

17 detected, prosecuted, or referred to treatment than 

18 drunk drivers; 

19 (6) there is a lack of uniformity or consistency 

20 in the way the 50 States approach drug impaired 

21 drivers; 

22 (7) too few police officers have been trained to 

23 detect drug impaired drivers, and too few prosecu24 tors have been trained to prove drug impaired driv25 ing cases beyond a reasonable doubt; 
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1 (8) per se drug impaired driving laws, like those 

2 used for driving under the influence of alcohol, are 

3 feasible and represent a sound strategy for dealing 

4 with drug impaired drivers and can assist in the 

5 prosecution of drug impaired driving offenders; and 

6 (9) while it is illegal in all States to drive a 

7 motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, 

8 drugs other than alcohol, or a combination of alcohol 

9 and other drugs, there is no consistent method 

10 across States for identifying drug impairment and 

11 the presence of drugs in the body. 

12 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

13 The purposes of this Act are— 

14 (1) to provide a model for States to implement 

15 and enforce a drug impaired driving statute; 

16 (2) to ensure drivers in need of drug education 

17 or treatment are identified and provided with the ap18 propriate assistance; 

19 (3) to advance research and development of 

20 testing mechanisms and knowledge about drugged 

21 driving and its impact on traffic safety; and 

22 (4) to enhance the training of traffic safety offi23 cers and prosecutors to detect, enforce, and pros24 ecute drug impaired driving laws. 
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1 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE.—The term 

4 ‘‘controlled substance’’ includes substances listed in 

5 schedules I through V of section 112(e) of the Con6 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(e)). 

7 (2) INHALANT.—The term ‘‘inhalant’’ means a 

8 household or commercial product that can be used 

9 by inhaling for intoxicating effect. 

10 (3) DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERT.—The term 

11 ‘‘drug recognition expert’’ means an individual 

12 trained in a specific evaluation procedure that en13 ables the person to determine whether an individual 

14 is under the influence of drugs and then to deter15 mine the type of drug causing the observable impair16 ment. 

17 SEC. 5. MODEL STATUTE. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

19 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall develop 

20 and provide to the States a model statute relating to drug 

21 impaired driving which incorporates the provisions de22 scribed in this Act. 

23 (b) MANDATORY PROVISIONS.—Provisions of the 

24 model statute developed by the Secretary for recommenda25 tion to the States under this section shall include, at a 

26 minimum, a provision that the crime of drug impaired
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1 driving is committed when a person operates a motor vehi2 cle—

3 (1) while any detectable amount of a controlled 

4 substance is present in the person’s body, as meas5 ured in the person’s blood, urine, saliva, or other 

6 bodily substance; or 

7 (2) due to the presence of a controlled sub8 stance or a controlled substance in combination with 

9 alcohol or an inhalant, or both, in the person’s body, 

10 the person’s mental or physical faculties are affected 

11 to a noticeable or perceptible degree. 

12 (c) DISCRETIONARY PROVISIONS.—Provisions of the 

13 model statute developed by the Secretary for recommenda14 tion to the States under this section may include the fol15 lowing: 

16 (1) Sanctions for refusing to submit to a test 

17 for the presence of a controlled substance in a per18 son’s body which are equivalent to sanctions for a 

19 positive test result. 

20 (2) Lawful use of any controlled substance list21 ed in schedule II, III, IV, or V of section 112(c) of 

22 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) 

23 that was lawfully prescribed by a physician licensed 

24 under State law is an affirmative defense to a 

25 charge of drug impaired driving; except that the af-
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1 firmative defense shall not be available if it is shown 

2 that the person’s mental or physical faculties were 

3 impaired by such use to a noticeable or perceptible 

4 degree. 

5 (3) A graduated system of penalties for repeat 

6 offenses of drug impaired driving, including, at a 

7 minimum, that a third or subsequent offense within 

8 a 10-year period shall be a felony punishable by im9 prisonment for more than a year. 

10 (4) Authorization for States to suspend or re11 voke the license of any driver upon receiving a 

12 record of the driver’s conviction of driving a motor 

13 vehicle while under the influence of a controlled sub14 stance. 

15 (5) Provisions that require a sentence of impris16 onment imposed for any drug impaired driving of17 fense be served consecutively, not concurrently, from 

18 a sentence imposed for any other criminal act; ex19 cept that a sentence imposed for the same act of im20 paired driving may be imposed concurrently if the 

21 additional conviction was based on an alternate the22 ory of culpability for the same act. 

23 (6) An appropriate system of evaluation, coun24 seling, treatment (if required), and supervision for 

25 persons convicted of drug impaired driving. 
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1 SEC. 6. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

2 Section 403(b) of title 23, United States Code, is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(5) New technology to detect drug use. 

5 ‘‘(6) Research and development to improve test6 ing technology, including toxicology lab resources 

7 and field test mechanisms to enable States to proc8 ess toxicology evidence in a more timely manner. 

9 ‘‘(7) Determining per se impairment levels for 

10 controlled substances and the compound effects of 

11 alcohol and controlled substances on impairment to 

12 facilitate enforcement of per se drug impaired driv13 ing laws. Research under this paragraph shall be 

14 carried out in collaboration with the National Insti15 tute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of 

16 Health.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. GOALS FOR TRAINING. 

18 Section 403 of title 23, United States Code, is 

19 amended by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(g) TRAINING GOALS.—For the purpose of enhanc21 ing the States’ ability to detect, enforce, and prosecute 

22 drug impaired driving laws, the Secretary shall—

23 ‘‘(1) establish and carry out programs to en24 hance police and prosecutor training efforts for en25 forcement of laws relating to drug impaired driving 
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1 and for development of programs to improve en2 forcement of such laws; and 

3 ‘‘(2) ensure that drug impaired driving enforce4 ment training or drug recognition expert programs, 

5 or both, exist in all 50 States and the District of Co6 lumbia by December 31, 2006.’’. 

7 SEC. 8. DUTIES. 

8 The Administrator of the National Highway Traffic 

9 Safety Administration shall—

10 (1) advise and coordinate with other Federal 

11 agencies on how to address the problem of driving 

12 under the influence of an illegal drug; and 

13 (2) conduct research on the prevention, detec14 tion, and prosecution of driving under the influence 

15 of an illegal drug. 

16 SEC. 9. REPORTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

18 the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 

19 the Secretary shall transmit to Congress a report on the 

20 progress being made in carrying out this Act, including 

21 the amendments made by this Act. 

22 (b) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall include in the 

23 report an assessment of the status of drug impaired driv24 ing laws in the United States— 
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1 (1) new research and technologies in the area 

2 of drug impaired driving enforcement; 

3 (2) a description of the extent of the problem 

4 of driving under the influence of an illegal drug in 

5 each State and any available information relating 

6 thereto, including a description of any laws relating 

7 to the problem of driving under the influence of an 

8 illegal drug; and 

9 (3) recommendations for addressing the prob10 lem of driving under the influence of an illegal drug. 

11 SEC. 10. FUNDING. 

12 Out of amounts appropriated to carry out section 403 

13 of title 23, United States Code, for fiscal years 2004 

14 through 2009, the Secretary shall use, at a minimum, 

15 $1,200,000 per fiscal year to carry out drug impaired driv16 ing traffic safety programs, including the provisions of this 

17 section and the amendments made by this section.

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