The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia has prepared a draft resolution enshrining the right of traffic police officers to conduct preliminary testing of drivers for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances using special saliva devices. At the same time, it is proposed to detect alcohol intoxication by ethanol vapor in exhaled air.
Lawyer Lev Voropaev, in an interview with TASS, called the drug initiative correct: today, inspectors have no tools to detect prohibited substances in drivers. However, the expert insists on strict regulation of the procedure.
According to him, testing should be carried out exclusively with mandatory video recording, which is stored for at least a year. If the recording was not conducted or is damaged, this should serve as a basis either for re-examination or for termination of the case. Voropaev refers to practice: inspectors often abuse drivers' ignorance of how the procedure should be carried out.
The expert assessed the alcohol detection procedure more restrainedly, calling it "complicated" and pointing to the same risks of abuse due to insufficient awareness of drivers.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in turn, claims that the new measures will speed up the inspection for law-abiding drivers and will allow for more efficient identification of those whose signs of intoxication are not obvious externally.
