DRUG EVALUATION AND CLASSIFICATION PROGRAM GLOSSARY OF TERMS

AGENCY DRE COORDINATOR: The person designated within each department or agency responsible for maintaining program records, ensuring maintenance of program standards and conducting training and certification sessions within the agency. Responsibility for this function may rest with one individual, in the case of a small or closely coordinated effort, or may be decentralized among several people throughout the agency.

BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (BAC): A person's blood alcohol concentration indicates the grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood. For example, a BAC of 0.10% means that there is one-tenth of a gram of alcohol in 100 milliliters of the person's blood.

CANDIDATE DRE: An individual in the process of achieving certification as a drug recognition expert. To achieve certification, a person must successfully complete a three-phase training program consisting of :

• A two-day DRE preschool
• A seven-day DRE school
• On-the-job field certification

CERTIFIED DRE INSTRUCTOR: Individuals who, having been trained and certified as drug recognition experts, receive further training and experience instructing within the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. Certified instructors will usually be certified DREs with experience in performing drug evaluations and in providing testimony in court in the area of drug recognition. Certified instructors are responsible of observing, evaluating and verifying the performance of candidate DREs.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY: For purposes of these standards, a criminal justice agency is any organization, funded by public monies, that is involved in the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication of public miscreants; or in the incarceration, detention, supervision or control of said miscreants following apprehension, prosecution and/or adjudication.

DRUG: For purposes of the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, a drug is any chemical substance, natural or artificial, which, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to operate a motor vehicle safely. Note that this is not necessarily a strict medical definition.

DRUG EVALUATION: A process of systematically examining a person suspected of being under the influence of a drug, for the purpose of ascertaining what category of drugs (or combination of categories) is causing the person's impairment. A trained DRE can identify, with a high degree of reliability, the distinguishing signs of seven broad categories of drugs, which encompass all drugs now known.

DRUG EVALUATION AND CLASSIFICATION TECHNICAL ADVISORY PANEL: This group, consisting of thirteen members, was formed to assist the Advisory Committee on Highway Safety of the International Association of Chiefs of Police on specific matters relating to the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. These matters include the revision of the approved training curriculum, review and approval of proposed alternative training programs, and other matters relating to the technical aspects of the DEC Program.

DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERT (DRE): An individual who has successfully completed all phases of training requirements for certification established by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

HORIZONTAL GAZE NYSTAGMUS (HGN): An involuntary jerking of the eyes that occurs as a person follows a stimulus with the eyes to the side. If a person is under the influence of alcohol or certain other drugs, the jerking tends to become very distinct and will commence relatively soon after the eyes start to move toward the side.

HGN is a very reliable and scientifically validated field sobriety test. A properly trained officer will systematically check for three clues of HGN in each of the suspect's eyes. The more impaired the suspect is, the more likely it will be that these clues will be observed.

IMPAIRMENT: One of several terms used to describe the degradation of driving ability due to alcohol or other drugs. The term "impairment" usually connotes observable effects that are less severe than those associated with "intoxication" or "drunkenness." "Impairment" as a concept is less closely linked to alcohol specifically than are "intoxication" and "drunkenness"; in other words, "impairment" is a condition associated with any drug, including but not limited to alcohol.

IMPLIED CONSENT: Every state has enacted a version of an Implied Consent law, which serves to encourage persons arrested for DWI to submit to a chemical test to determine blood alcohol content. Many states also allow for the testing of blood, breath or urine for the presence of drugs. The concept of implied consent is that the state views the suspect as already having agreed to take the test, as a condition of operating a vehicle in the state. The typical wording of an implied consent law is as follows: "Any person who operates a motor vehicle upon the public highways of this state shall be deemed to have given consent to a chemical test or tests for the purpose of determining the alcohol (or drug) content of his or her blood, when arrested for any act alleged to have been committed while the person was operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol (or any drug)."

The law further provides that, if the arrestee nevertheless refuses to submit to the chemical test, he or she will not be forced to submit, but the driver's license will be suspended or revoked.

IACP STAFF: At the request of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Division of State and Provincial Police of the IACP has agreed to develop standards and assist in managing the certification process for the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program. As part of this agreement, the IACP will perform necessary staff and coordination functions for the program. The staff of the Division of State and Provincial Police is responsible for maintaining records for the national program and will coordinate certification and recertification processes.

INTOXICATION: One of the several terms used to describe the degradation of driving ability and other faculties due to ingestion of alcohol or other drugs. The term usually connotes very easily observable and severe effects of alcohol, and often is used inter-changeably with the word "drunk." However, "intoxication" sometimes has a quasi-legal connotation as well and may be linked with a specific level of BAC.

NHTSA: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, within the United States Department of Transportation that exercises primary responsibility for coordinating federal efforts to ensure the safe design and operation of motor vehicles.

NYSTAGMUS: An involuntary jerking of the eye. Certain forms of nystagmus, especially horizontal gaze nystagmus, are affected by alcohol and certain other drugs. There are numerous forms or types of nystagmus other than HGN; for example, vertical nystagmus, positional alcohol nystagmus, rotational nystagmus, caloric nystagmus, and many others.

STANDARDIZED FIELD SOBRIETY TESTS: The Standardized Field Sobriety Tests include three tests that were developed and validated through a series of controlled experiments sponsored by NHTSA. The three tests include Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (HGN); Walk and Turn (WAT); and One Leg Stand (OLS).

The HGN test is described elsewhere in this glossary.

Walk and Turn and One Leg Stand are divided attention tests. As such, they require the suspect to concentrate on more than one thing at a time. Because driving a motor vehicle is itself a fairly complex divided attention test, these examinations have face validity as indicators of driving impairment.

The training course developed by NHTSA, "DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing," is a 16- to 24-hour program designed to train traffic enforcement officers to administer the sobriety tests. The training includes two controlled drinking sessions. During these sessions, students practice administering the test battery to volunteers who have received predetermined doses of alcohol. In order to complete the course satisfactorily, students must pass a written examination and demonstrate profi-ciency in administering the field sobriety test battery.

STATE DRE COORDINATOR: In each of the states in which the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program has been implemented under the auspices of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an individual has been designated to act as the statewide coordinator for the DEC Program. The duties of the position generally include but are not limited to:

• Acting as an information clearinghouse and central communication point for the program within the state.
• Assisting in coordinating training and other support activities for all agencies participating in the program within the state.
• Coordinating the assignment of instructors in response to requests for service from federal and other sources.

In many cases, this individual works under the direction of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.