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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE CREATION OF A TASK FORCE TO STUDY AND MAKE

RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF DRUGS.

WHEREAS, driving under the influence of drugs is a

serious problem in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, twenty-two percent of fatal motor vehicle

crashes involved drugs other than alcohol in the years 2000 to

2006 in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, between the years 2000 and 2006, the incidence

of cocaine use in fatal motor vehicle crashes increased by one

hundred seventy percent in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, between the years 2000 and 2006, the incidence

of methamphetamine use involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes

increased by eighty-nine percent in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, it is rare that anyone in New Mexico is charged

or convicted of driving under the influence of drugs; and

WHEREAS, the national highway traffic safety

administration reports that sixteen thousand people are killed

annually due to drunk and drugged driving; and

WHEREAS, the national highway traffic safety

administration estimates that drugs are used by approximately

ten to twenty-two percent of drivers involved in motor vehicle

crashes, often in combination with alcohol; and

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WHEREAS, in recent years, drugs other than alcohol that

act on the brain have increasingly been recognized as hazards

to road traffic safety;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the chief of

the traffic safety bureau of the department of transportation,

the director of the scientific laboratory division of the

department of health and the secretary of public safety

convene a task force to study the extent of the problem of

driving under the influence of drugs in New Mexico and how

such a problem can be addressed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force research the

effectiveness of other state laws in addressing the problem of

driving under the influence of drugs and make recommendations

for changes in New Mexico law to more effectively address the

problem of driving under the influence of drugs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the chief of the traffic

safety bureau, the director of the scientific laboratory

division and the secretary of public safety report to the

appropriate interim legislative committee by November 2007 on

the study and the recommendations of the task force; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the secretaries of transportation, health and

public safety.