While drunk driving is dropping nationally, drugged driving is on the rise.
And North Dakota safety groups held a one-day “drugged driving summit” in Bismarck to begin looking at ways to prevent it. But the groups say it’s a real challenge.
"It's a very complex topic," said Gene LaDoucer of North Dakota Triple A. "There's a lot of impairing drugs that impact a person's driving."
LaDoucer said the legalization of medical marijuana just adds to the issue.
"The drugs can be found over the counter," LaDoucer said. "They can be prescribed. They can be illegal. All those are a concern."
LaDoucer said the state is seeing increases in all of those.
"We're looking at the broad spectrum of drugs -- their impairment on a person, and how that impacts traffic safety," LaDoucer said.
LaDoucer said coming up with a prevention strategy will take time.
"With alcohol, there was one substance to look at," LaDoucer said. "Now, it's a whole array of substances. It is a very difficult subject that may take years of research and collection of data to understand -- and only then can we come up with a satisfactory alternatives to combat the issue."
