Does Addiction Impair One's Ability to Drive?

• Author: Staudinger, Alyssa

REPORTS OF DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING are on the rise, especially as the opioid crisis continues to permeate communities across the United States and as more states move to legalize marijuana use. Like alcohol, drug-impaired driving can have dangerous consequences. A 2009 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ("NHTSA") found that "18 percent of drivers killed in a crash tested positive for at least one drug." (1) By 2016, over 43 percent of fatally-injured drivers with known drug test results were drug-positive and over 50 percent were positive for two or more drugs. (2) As these statistics indicate, the prevalence and dangerousness of drug-impaired driving is clear. These numbers also underscore the reason why every state makes it a crime to drive while under the influence of a drug. However, should the criminal justice system go further to protect the public by criminalizing drug addiction? Does the non-impaired but drug-addicted driver pose a similar danger to that of the driver under the influence of drugs? Does drug addiction impair one's ability to drive?

Many medical professionals and abuse counselors view drug addiction and mental health disorders similarly. The National Institute of Drug Abuse ("NIDA") states, "[a]ddiction changes the brain in fundamental ways, disturbing a person's normal hierarchy of needs and desires and substituting new priorities connected with procuring and using the drug. The resulting pulsive behaviors that weaken the ability to control impulses, despite the negative consequences, are similar to hallmarks of other mental illnesses." (3) The tendency to view drug-addiction as a disorder is relatively new.

Historically, those with an addiction to drugs were generally viewed as a menace to society. In 1937, Commissioner Henry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics ("FBN"), testifying before Congress stated, "the major criminal in the United States is the drug addict; that of all the offenses committed against the laws of this country, the narcotic addict is the most frequent offender." (4) Criminalizing the drug addict and drug-involved behavior increased in 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs." (5) Subsequently, the Reagan era saw the passage of The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, which strengthened prosecution and penalties for the drug user. (6)

The end of the twentieth century saw a shift in the paradigm toward a more treatment-centered...