Mothers Against Drunk Driving also work to end drugged driving

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A group dedicated to fighting drunk driving has expanded its mission because it’s not just alcohol causing impairment on the roads.

Driving under the influence, a dangerous practice, is not just specific to alcohol. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates nearly half of drivers in fatal car crashes test positive for drugs. In some cases, it involves polydrug use: a mixture of both drugs and alcohol.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a national non-profit aimed at stopping impaired driving of any kind. Advocates told News 2 that, just like driving after drinking alcohol, drugged driving puts everyone on the road at serious risk. It’s not only a growing problem, but also a complex one. Alex Otte, MADD’s regional director for Middle Tennessee, said that the complexity can make advocacy difficult.

“We know that alcohol is still the leading killer on our nation’s roads, but poly use is increasing an overwhelming amount. Drugs, whether prescription or illicit, are always changing,” Otte said. “There’s always a new drug, there’s always a new laced something or the other, that there isn’t always a roadside test for because it manifests in such different ways with different people. It makes it more challenging.”

In 2015, MADD expanded its mission to include fighting drug-impaired driving. To do so, they created a drugged driving task force with key law enforcement, traffic safety and research experts. The task force studies the potential effects of marijuana legalization, the national opioid crisis and the prevalence of prescription drugs could have on impaired driving.

“People could be impaired in a small amount by alcohol, they do not have that much alcohol in their system,” Otte told News 2. “When combined with a drug, whether illicit or prescription, the impairment is multiplied. This is something we’re really concerned with.”

According to a 2021 MADD survey , about one in five U.S. adults have personally driven, or know someone who has driven, while impaired by prescription medications. Those medications included depressants, opioids and stimulants.

Moving forward, Otte said that education will play a large role in the organization’s fight to end drugged driving.

“We want them to continue to seek the help that they need. We want them to have an understanding of what effects that drug has, whether it impairs their judgment, whether it impairs their reaction time,” Otte said. “We want people to have an understanding of how their medication affects them, so that they can make the best choices.”

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