Valley law enforcement agencies reporting uptick in drug-related DUI

PHOENIX — Multiple police departments across the Valley are reporting an increase in DUI cases involving drugs.

Detective Steve Berry, a Mesa police spokesman, said officers are seeing more people driving under the influence of drugs —  though impairment from alcohol remains a major problem.

For instance, if officers have three DUI cases in a night, two of those cases will likely be drug-related, he said.

“One of the other things that they’re seeing is the combination of drugs and alcohol together,” Berry said. “It used to be that you might find one or the other but now you find both.”

Police departments from Chandler and Phoenix are also reporting an increase in drug-related DUI cases.

Sergeant Alan Pfohl, a Phoenix police spokesman, said the increase is being fueled by a rise in the use of heroin and opioids.

“For the past couple of years, we have really seen an uptick in heroin and opioid use – both prescription and illegal,” Pfohl said.

“So that mixed with the alcohol is contributing to a lot of our DUIs.”

It’s difficult to know the exact number of DUI cases involving drugs, Pfohl said.

He explained, oftentimes, a driver who’s showing signs of drunk driving will get tested for alcohol but not drugs because “it’s much easier to quantify an impairing amount of alcohol.

“We know based on reports from our task force that other Valley agencies are seeing this increase as well,” he added, referring to DUI cases involving drugs.

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