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An Interview with Darrin Grondel and Brian Swift, about the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID)

In this episode of Justice Speaks, JSI President David Wallace speaks with Darrin Grondel, Senior Vice President of Traffic Safety for Responsiblity.org and Brian Swift, Spokesperson for the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID).

About Darrin Grondel

Mr. Grondel is the Senior Vice President of Traffic Safety for Responsibility.org and he serves as the Director for NASID.  Prior to that, he worked 25 years for the Washington State Patrol, retiring as a Captain.  While with the Patrol, the Governor appointed him the Highway Safety Director for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.  As Darrin declared, from all that he has done in his career, the issue of traffic safety is very near and dear to his heart. 

About Brian Swift

Starting off, Mr. Swift noting that he is a “yooper;” a person who lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  He grew up in Escanaba, Michigan, did his undergrad studies at Michigan State University, and he got his Master’s Degree at Northern Michigan University.  Brian notes that his career took him into politics, initially working for a congressional representative from the Upper Peninsula, and then working for Michigan Governor John Engler for 10 years. Currently he lives and works in Fort Worth, Texas, working for physicians doing public relations and communications. 

About Responsibility.org

30 years ago some leading alcohol distillers established Responsibility.org, with the goal of preventing underage drinking, eliminating impaired driving and encouraging adults to make responsible choices on alcohol.  It provides strong messages on underage drinking prevention and the impact of alcohol on a young brain.  Responsibility.org has a wealth of content on prevention, treatment, and research on the issues of impaired driving and underage drinking.  One of the education programs it created is Ask, Listen, Learn.  It is designed to help parents to address underage drinking with their children.  While alcohol is the primary focus for Responsibility.org, with the increase of marijuana legalization and drugged driving overall, it has now incorporated information about the challenges of cannabis (marijuana) and the underage brain, driving while under the influence of marijuana, and the broader issue of drugged driving. 

About NASID

Responsibility.org began working with Brian Swift and his efforts to expand an oral fluid test pilot project in the State of Michigan.  The oral fluid test allows law enforcement officers to test a driver and determine if there are other active drugs besides alcohol in the person’s body.  Similar to a preliminary breath test used to test for alcohol, this test looks for a limited number of drugs, such as cannabis, to see if there is another reason the person may be showing signs of impairment. The test does not give a number as a result; it just gives a positive or negative response to the presence of certain drugs.  Prior to offering this test, the officer would typically go through the standard three phases of an impaired driving investigation: 1. Vehicle in Motion, 2. Personal Contact, and 3. Pre-arrest Screening.

Recognizing the importance and benefit that this test can have on “drugged” driving, Responsibility.org began working with Brian and Michigan’s coalition and worked to take it nationally.  This could help address the growing challenge of multi-substance impaired driving.

Brian Swift’s Story

Brian got that phone call that no child, no parent, no sibling ever wants to receive.  He got a call from law enforcement that told him his father was dead and his mother was in intensive care from a car crash.  A person drove through a stop sign while smoking marijuana on a suspended driver’s license, and hit the car his father was driving and his mother was a passenger in.  She later succumbed to her injuries passing away three days later.  Of course, there was the emotional impact of the death of his parents and then the necessity of going to court when the driver of that vehicle was prosecuted for their deaths.  Ultimately, the driver got a minimum of 4 years in prison. 

Because of his background in politics, Brian was determined to ensure that the deaths of his parents did not happen in vain. He spoke with political figures he knew, and the Michigan State Police, all to find out what tool(s) was missing in combating drugged driving.  What he learned was the need for an oral fluid test for some of the basic drugs people were using and then driving while impaired.  That led to Michigan passing the first law in the country approving the use of an oral fluid test. Now, oral fluid testing is spreading across the nation. As Brian indicated, because multi-substance impairment is becoming common, using an oral fluid test should be a normal part of any impaired driving investigation.

Impaired Driving is more than Alcohol

Years ago, alcohol was the focus with impaired driving.  However, that has changed over time where now, it is common for an impaired person to use more than one substance, such as drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana or ingesting some other drug all during the same time.  A few years ago, a study was completed that examined the public’s perception of impaired driving due to alcohol versus being impaired because of other drugs.  The study demonstrated that impaired driving due to alcohol has a significant stigma attached to it.  It is socially unacceptable.  However, that is not the perception for drugged driving. A person can be impaired through other drugs, legal or illegal, and not be the stereotypical falling down drunk.  The person can still be impaired, possibly the person’s reaction time has decreased, or depth perception is worse, or the person feels lightheaded, each factor causing a person to be impaired. But since that person is not “falling down drunk,” it doesn’t seem as important or as dangerous to the public—even though it is.  Darrin pointed out that fifty percent of fatal crashes where there is a known drug test result, there is a high percentage of drivers who have alcohol along with another drug(s) present as well.  

As previously noted, an oral fluid test result is positive or negative for the presence of a drug.  It does not give a number, and that is important because, unlike alcohol and .08 or similar numbers, there is no specific number that demonstrates a person is impaired when using marijuana or other substances. It is up to the officer’s observations.

Since we have the technology to use an oral fluid test to assist law enforcement, Brian asks an important question: Why aren’t we using it, since it can help save lives?  The technology is designed to detect someone who is impaired, possibly, before that person kills someone else.  It is clear that we can do better. 

NASID Partners and Beyond

NASID has grown in its scope and activities, bringing on board a number of members, including MADD, Abbott, Intoxalock, Uber, SADD and others to share the message and the work.  NASID also has “Allied members” such as NSA (National Sheriff’s Association), We Save Lives, NDAA (National District Attorneys Association), the Kari Ann DeMott Foundation and others.  Allied members are unable to lobby and do not advocate for legislation at the state or federal level. 

NASID is not taking a position on the legalization of marijuana, that is not the issue.  However, NASID is taking a position on impaired driving because of marijuana or other drugs.  If a person wants to consume those drugs, that is different from consuming it and then driving impaired. Thus, NASID is looking at how to respond to the whole person, such as:

• What is the best way to educate the public; 
• How can law enforcement officers be more effective in responding to drugged driving; 
• What is the appropriate punishment to someone who has driven impaired; 
• How can the courts effectively change a person’s behavior who may have a substance use disorder. 

In addition, to further assist officers, the Cannabis Impairment Detection Workshop Guide was created so officers have the tools to identify, understand and overcome issues related to drugged driving. 

One big bit of news shared during the episode is that the United States Department of Transportation has been working on a final rule to allow using oral fluid testing on commercial vehicle operators, such as semi-truck drivers or through the FAA and pilots or the Federal Railroad Administration. The rule has now been approved. 

Conclusion

Brian points out that “the train has left the station.”  It is time to step up, and for states to enact appropriate legislation and increase education efforts.  He wants to know “What plan is in place?” when states are addressing drugged driving. Brian has testified at a number of state hearings and he has spoken with victims, and families of victims, to aid them in moving forward and to help determine the next steps. 

While impaired driving is about more than alcohol, the bottom line is that when someone takes another person’s life because that person was impaired, it doesn’t have anything to do with gender or race or other societal issues.  As Brian declared, the issue of impaired driving is a non-partisan issue that we should all be able to get behind.  It is all about saving lives. 

To learn more about NASID, click HERE. 

Additional Resource

You can also watch this interview by going to the Justice Speakers Institutes’ YouTube Channel or by clicking here.