WSP thinks DREs are gods!  Newsflash, they are not.

The WSP knows which drugs you're on TV shows and movies have taught us how drunk drivers behave when an officer pulls them over. They stumble while trying to walk a straight line and struggle to touch their nose with their finger. What does a drugged driver - someone impaired by something other than alcohol - act like? There are about 200 officers in Washington, who are trained to know which drug a person is using, just by observing them. Washington State Patrol Sergeant Mark Crandall is Drug Recognition Expert and a DRE trainer. In his 20 years as a trooper he's seen thousands of people who use prescription or illegal drugs, then drive. Some of them are high on a combination of things. "I arrested a painter who was inside a closed container. After work he had a couple of beers and was driving home about 4 a.m. The beers mixed with the fumes, he was high as a kite. By the time I got him out of the car, I saw him starting to inhale fresh air and watched him become sober," Crandall says. Marijuana, Methamphetamine and Oxycodone are the top three drugs used by those who've been pulled over so far in 2012. "We find people who are using stuff off the shelf, the huffers, the recreational drug users who take something or a feeling, illegal drugs, the underground drugs, the heroin and meth," says Crandall. "When you ask what we're encountering, I always say what can you imagine? It can be anything." The blood alcohol limit for drunk driving is .08 percent in Washington. Officers can measure the BAC in a portable breath test that can be used at the roadside. But there isn't an equivalent relationship between drugs and impairment levels. Troopers don't have an on-the-spot test for suspected drugged drivers. A blood draw is needed, with results coming later from a lab. For the officer's safety and others, it's important to figure out pretty quickly what kind of drugged-up person they're dealing with. If a trooper suspects someone they've pulled over is on drugs, they can call for a DRE to analyze the driver. The expert runs through a 12 step process, observing things like muscle tone. "They can be really amped up and their muscles will be rigid and solid, or they'll be on heroin and they'll be loose and flaccid like Jello. We feel their arms, we have them make fists, and we feel their forearms, do they know the difference between flexing or not and can we see that," he says. Behavior is a give away. Someone on meth will be "agitated, fidgety and hyped up" because it's a stimulant. Someone taking PCB might act like they have human strength or become paranoid. Pupil dilation also tells them a lot. Ecstasy, cocaine, crack, meth, all dilate the eyes, which look totally black, barely any color shows. Heroin makes the pupils look like pin dots. DREs try to stay ahead of drug users by going online to figure out what people are using to get high and how the substance impacts their behavior. "As we're trying to prohibit people from driving impaired on the highway, they're actually writing about how to get their best high," says Crandall. "I visit those websites too, I look at it, I find it amazing what people will do to feel an effect or get high, to get an euphoric feeling or to make them sleep, or anything that effects their body." The average state patrol officer pulls over between 1,500 and 1,700 drivers a year. The DREs have a high batting average for knowing what drug someone is on, confirmed by blood tests. Seattle DUI Lawyer, Nate Webb's, response to this article: The "training" they go through teaches them that everyone who smokes pot has a "green" tongue and that aspirin is a drug! Take this article with a grain of salt. Interesting how the DRE in this article said the painter was "high as a kite" and sobered up in front of him, hilarious! Maybe he just thought he had something more than he did but since the driver really only had two beers (probably verified by a breath test well below the limit at the station), the DRE had to stretch and point to some "reasoning" to arrest. To sum up, DRE training is a joke, then these self-proclaimed "experts" testify that after 7 days of training, yes 7 days, their conclusions are the equivalent of an MD! If all it takes is 7 days to become an "expert," then I'm an expert in: pediatrics, psychology, oncology, advertising, dentistry, construction, tiger woods PGA tour '11, '12, lol...you get the picture.

Memorial Day DUI arrests are tops among holidays...

As you venture out for your holiday travel this weekend, remember that Memorial Day is a busy DUI weekend.  Let's be safe out there.

The holidays are a dangerous time to be on the road, and the Memorial Day weekend proves to be one of the deadliest. Every year, hundreds of Americans die as a result of alcohol-related car crashes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been tracking car-crash statistics for a quarter of a century. In 2010 (the most recent data available), 397 people died in crashes over the Memorial Day weekend.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is a serious risk. Aside from being irresponsible on the road, impaired driving carries serious insurance consequences. If your insurer discovers you’ve been convicted of a DUI, your car insurance rates will likely increase or your policy may be canceled or not renewed.

When people think of a deadly holiday, they generally associate it with New Year's Day. While that weekend is deadly, other holidays are just as dangerous. The statistics vary annually based on which day of the week the holiday falls. For example, some holidays have a four-day weekend, while others take place during only three days -- and some holidays vary in length from year to year.
 

Holiday car crashes in 2010

Holiday	Fatalities
Memorial Day (three-day period)	397 deaths (40% alcohol-related)
Fourth of July (three-day period)	392 deaths (39% alcohol-related)
Labor Day (three-day period)	403 deaths (36% alcohol-related)
New Year’s Day (three-day period)	297 deaths (48% alcohol-related)
Thanksgiving (three-day period)	431 deaths (40% alcohol-related)
Christmas (three-day period)	259 deaths (37% alcohol-related)

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Drunk driving is a major threat to public safety, and many states continue to work to get intoxicated drivers off the highways. NHTSA reports that in 2010 more than 10,000 people in the United States died in alcohol-impaired car crashes, or one every 51 minutes.
 

Matthew Fox (Lost Star) Arrested for DUI...

"Lost" star Matthew Fox was busted for DUI Friday in Oregon ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Matthew was arrested at 3:23AM on suspicion of driving under the influence. We're told there was a passenger in the car.

Matthew was taken into custody and released later that day.

Details surrounding the arrest are unclear -- but sources tell us, it was alcohol-related. We're told Matthew was en route to a fast food restaurant for some late night eats at the time of his arrest.

Matthew lives in Bend, Oregon with his family. Calls to Matthew's reps were not returned.
UPDATE: He has a scheduled arraignment on June 7th.

Jenna Jameson DUI...

Porn actress Jenna Jameson was arrested on suspicion of DUI early Friday after her car hit a pole.
The 38-year-old "Zombie Strippers!" star was pulled over by officers at around 1:30am local time after the accident and given a field sobriety test, law enforcement sources told TMZ.
She was subsequently held for misdemeanor suspicion of DUI. She was expected to be cited and released from custody later Friday.