The California Highway Patrol (CHP) announced today more than $19 million in grant funding to 71 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.
“Communities throughout California will benefit greatly from the disbursement of these grant funds intended to help make California’s roadways safer for all who use them,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “The money will be used to help enhance traffic safety by educating the public on the dangers of impaired driving, removing impaired drivers from the roadway through enforcement operations, and advancing research on the issue.”
Fifty-four 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 drug-impaired drivers. Additionally, funding will allow for public outreach campaigns, including educational presentations and community events.
Five 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, including: City of Lancaster, City of Long Beach, Imperial County Sheriff’s Office, Marin County Public Defender, Sacramento County District Attorney Laboratory of Forensic Services and Arrive Alive.
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. These include:
- Contra Costa County, Office of the Sheriff, Forensic Services Division
- Kern Regional Crime Laboratory
- Los Angeles Police Department
- Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, City and County of San Francisco
- Orange County Crime Laboratory
- Sacramento County District Attorney Crime Lab
- San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
- San Diego Medical Examiner Department
- San Mateo County Sheriff's Office Forensic Laboratory
- Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office
- Ventura County Forensic Services Bureau
Meanwhile, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, recipient of a one-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 2024. Additional information is available on the CHP website, at CHP’s Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program.
Republished courtesy of CHP.