House committee advances bills to allow roadside oral‑fluid testing for suspected drugged driving

Chair Beagle called the House Government Operations Committee to order and the panel advanced two bills (House Bills 4390 and 4391, substitute H‑2) that would allow police to use preliminary oral‑fluid screening at the roadside and to collect oral‑fluid samples for laboratory testing instead of routine blood draws.

The bills are sponsored by Chair Beagle (Chair, House Government Operations Committee) and Representative Julie Rogers. Chair Beagle and Representative Rogers told the committee the package is intended to improve roadway safety by giving officers a non‑invasive, rapid tool to document recent drug use when they observe signs of impairment.

The measures would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to permit preliminary oral‑fluid testing on the roadside and to allow oral‑fluid specimens to be submitted to laboratories for confirmatory analysis as an alternative to transporting a suspected impaired driver to a medical facility for a blood draw.

Supporters told the committee that oral fluid has operational advantages. Tom Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the NTSB’s 2022 recommendation calls on states to permit oral‑fluid collection, screening and testing to detect drug use by drivers. He said oral fluid collection is “rapid and less invasive,” allows samples to be collected sooner after a stop, and is “less likely to be susceptible to alteration than urine.”

Kristen…