Driving Under the Influence of Drugs Courts

Specialized drug courts are one way to handle Driving Under the Influence (DUI) offenders. The experience of these courts provides useful models of care. All drivers convicted of drugged driving should go through DUI drug courts. DUI drug courts are modeled on the DUI alcohol courts; they are specialty courts for those convicted of drugged driving. These court programs have proven remarkably effective at reducing the rate of recidivism among offenders. While the number of DUI drug courts is growing, there are still too few. When drivers are found guilty of drugged driving, they, as part of their commitment to go through a DUI drug court, should be drug tested on a random basis until they are no longer using any illegal drugs. If the drivers continue to test positive for drug use, they should be made to seek professional drug and addiction counseling. No one who is dependent on drugs should be allowed to drive, and only continued random drug testing will ensure that this is the case. However, the 1.4 million Americans arrested for DUI each year can never be handled by specialized courts. The management of all DUI offenders needs to be upgraded to include screening for referral to treatment with careful monitoring of treatment compliance and with testing linked to swift and certain consequences to ensure that the DUI laws are effective in deterring recidivism of this dangerous crime.

DUI & Drug Courts Resources

National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP)

NADCP was founded to reduce the negative social impact of substance abuse, crime, and recidivism by:

• promoting and advocating for the establishment, growth and funding of drug courts;
• providing for the collection and dissemination of information; and
• providing sophisticated training, technical assistance and mutual support to association members.

National Drug Court Institute (NDCI)

NDCI promotes education, research and scholarship for drug court and other court-based intervention programs by providing comprehensive drug court training series for practitioners, supporting investigative projects aimed at the development of more effective drug court policies and procedures, and disseminating drug court specific research, evaluations and relevant commentary.