GHSA and Responsibility.org provided a $14,200 grant to the Maryland Highway Safety Office expand its current green lab program and train more law enforcement officers to detect cannabis impairment at the roadside.
In 2023, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) partnered with the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) to provide a $14,200 grant to The Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO) to tackle issues related to driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) and high-risk impaired driving in various settings, including laboratories, courtrooms and at the roadside.
The MHSO used grant funding to expand its current green lab program and train more law enforcement officers to detect cannabis impairment at the roadside. Additionally, MHSO provided Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE) training and manuals to law enforcement agencies to improve officers’ ability to detect impairment caused by multiple substances.
MHSO worked with the Chesapeake Regional Safety Council (CRSC) and the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) to offer a series of green labs. MHSO’s goal was to educate an additional 100 law enforcement officers (15-25 per training session) about cannabis impairment and its impact on the ability to operate a motor vehicle. They more than doubled that, training a total of 220 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies to identify signs of cannabis impairment during traffic stops. The green lab training included information on the types of cannabis (both synthetic and edible), cannabis physiology, administration routes (i.e., inhalation, oral consumption), duration of effects, and best practices for managing suspected cases of cannabis impairment while driving.
The officers participating in the green labs were also trained in the fundamentals of Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) and had the opportunity to put their skills into practice by working with volunteers.
In collaboration with the Maryland State Police (MSP), MHSO aimed to provide ARIDE training to an additional 200 law enforcement officers. This training is essential for equipping officers with a thorough understanding of how polysubstance impairment affects a person’s ability to safely operate a vehicle.
MHSO met and exceeded this goal. A total of 232 law enforcement officers completed ARIDE training under this grant. The MSP either led or supported the agencies in training these officers, who are now proficient in assessing drug impairment during traffic stops. The participating officers also received training in trial preparation and evidence collection.
Initially, these training labs were open to all department members and allied agencies, but the MCPD now requires all recently graduated officers to attend as part of their standard training. Additionally, thanks to MCPD’s efforts, officers from multiple states, including Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Hawaii, Georgia, New Jersey and DC, have participated in this training.
The MHSO will continue to partner with the CRSC, MSP, and the MCPD to conduct green labs, focusing on increasing diversity among participants and law enforcement agencies. To that end, the MHSO will collaborate with the CRSC to conduct a green lab specifically for law enforcement officials working at historically black college and university campuses and encourage its partners to offer this training in suburban and rural areas across the state.
