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MARSHALL COUNTY - On Friday, five Indiana State Troopers at the Bremen Post and one from the Toll Road Post received a new and enhanced tool to help combat drugged and impaired driving.
This tool is called the SoToxa Oral Fluid Mobile Test System.
The SoToxa Oral Fluid Mobile Test System is a portable, handheld system that law enforcement can use roadside to detect up to seven drug classes and receive results within five minutes from a single oral fluid collection sample, according to a news release from the ISP. These devices detect THC, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines and now, fentanyl. These troopers will be the first in the state of Indiana to be issued these newest machines that will detect fentanyl.
These portable, handheld devices are designed for roadside field use for screening for drugs much like a portable breath test is used for alcohol detection. The roadside screening provides accurate insight to help determine if further investigation and testing is needed on a suspected drugged driver, the release states.
Indiana has had over 200 SoToxa devices in the field since 2020 that were purchased by federal traffic safety grant money administered by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute. Indiana has been at the forefront of roadside oral fluid testing both nationwide and worldwide, according to the release. This has led to taking dangerous drivers impaired on drugs off our roads.
These new devices will complement those already in the field and will enhance the mission of the Indiana State Police to make roadways safer by removing those that drive impaired on drugs. These efforts will reduce crashes and save lives.
