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New Jersey police can continue using a protocol to identify drug-impaired driving, but with new limits on how they can be used, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday in a long-awaited decision.
The case was brought by the Public Defenderās Office, which argued that police officers didnāt use scientifically valid methods to determine drug impairment, which could lead to the potential for unjust arrests.
The police who use these methods are known Drug Recognition Experts (DREs), trained to determine the signs that someone is driving while under the influence of drugs such as cannabis. While drunken driving can be determined by blood alcohol levels, cannabis remains in the blood system long after a person is no longer impaired.