CHP distributes more than $12 million to fight impaired driving
The California Highway Patrol announced more than $12 million in grant funding will be awarded to 45 California law enforcement agencies, crime laboratories, and nonprofit organizations to help address the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
The grants are the result of Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which tasked the CHP with administering grants for education, prevention, and enforcement programs to help communities combat impaired driving. Money is also available to crime laboratories conducting forensic toxicology testing. Funding for the grants comes from a tax on the cultivation and sale of cannabis and cannabis products sold in California.
“These grant funds go beyond impaired driving enforcement efforts. Money will be used to support education, training, and outreach in communities throughout California,” said CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray. “This is an opportunity to work with various traffic safety stakeholders to help make California’s roadways safer for all who use them.”
Thirty recipients of law enforcement grants will use funds to address impaired driving within their communities. In addition to traditional impaired driving enforcement, funds will also be used for drug recognition evaluator training to enhance their respective agency’s ability to detect impaired drivers. Additionally, funding will allow for public outreach campaigns, including educational presentations and community events.
Three recipients of education grants will use funds to teach local communities about impaired driving laws, while highlighting the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Eleven recipients of two-year toxicology crime laboratories grants will use funds to eliminate backlogs in the analysis of forensic science evidence and to purchase and/or upgrade laboratory equipment to improve testing capabilities.
One recipient of a two-year toxicology medical examiners/coroner’s office grant will use funds to help improve and advance the data collection in cases involving driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
The application process for future grant funding is expected to open again in early 2023. Additional information is available on the CHP Web site, at CHP’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program.
