{"id":464,"date":"2026-04-21T16:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baronedefensefirm.lawblogger.net\/blog\/michigan-expands-definition-and-use-of-drug-recognition-experts\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T16:27:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T20:27:05","slug":"michigan-expands-definition-and-use-of-drug-recognition-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/michigan-expands-definition-and-use-of-drug-recognition-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Drug Recognition Experts: What DRE Evaluations and Roadside Drug Tests Really Show"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan drug recognition experts, usually called DREs, are police officers trained to investigate suspected drug-impaired driving. In the right case, police may combine roadside observations, field sobriety tests, a DRE evaluation, and chemical testing to try to prove an OWI based on drugs. But those pieces of evidence do not all prove the same thing. Presence of a drug is not the same as actual impairment, and in marijuana cases that distinction matters a great deal.<sup><a id=\"ref1\" href=\"#fn1\">1<\/a><\/sup><sup><a id=\"ref2\" href=\"#fn2\">2<\/a><\/sup><sup><a id=\"ref3\" href=\"#fn3\">3<\/a><\/sup><sup><a id=\"ref4\" href=\"#fn4\">4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p><!-- IMAGE PLACEMENT: Add a top image here showing a nighttime roadside investigation. Suggested alt text: Michigan drug recognition expert roadside investigation --><\/p>\n<h2>What Is a Michigan Drug Recognition Expert?<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4043 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-200x300.png\" alt=\"Michigan drug recognition experts during roadside OWI investigation\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-667x1000.png 667w, https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn-80x120.png 80w, https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn.png 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>Michigan drug recognition experts are defined broadly by statute, but the courtroom question is usually more specific. Under MCL 257.625t, the term means a law enforcement officer trained to recognize impairment in a driver under the influence of a controlled substance rather than, or in addition to, alcohol.<sup><a href=\"#fn1\">1<\/a><\/sup> The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/msp\/divisions\/ohsp\/law-enforcement-programs\/dre-drug-recognition-expert-program\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michigan State Police Drug Recognition Expert Program<\/a>, however, describes a more structured certification path. MSP explains that applicants must complete SFST and ARIDE prerequisites, DRE classroom training, field certification training, and biannual recertification.<sup><a href=\"#fn2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/michigan-expands-definition-and-use-of-drug-recognition-experts\/\"  title=\"Continue Reading Michigan Drug Recognition Experts: What DRE Evaluations and Roadside Drug Tests Really Show\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Michigan drug recognition experts, usually called DREs, are police officers trained to investigate suspected drug-impaired driving. In the right case, police may combine roadside observations, field sobriety tests, a DRE evaluation, and chemical testing to try to prove an OWI based on drugs. But those pieces of evidence do not all prove the same thing. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[198,197,203,201,185,200,202,199],"class_list":["post-464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dui-drug-charges","tag-dre","tag-drug-recognition-experts","tag-drugged-driving","tag-marijuana-owi","tag-michigan-owi","tag-oral-fluid-testing","tag-ouid","tag-roadside-saliva-testing"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Michigan Drug Recognition Experts and Roadside Drug Testing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan drug recognition experts, DRE evaluations, and roadside saliva tests in OWI cases: what they show and how to challenge them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/michigan-expands-definition-and-use-of-drug-recognition-experts\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Michigan Drug Recognition Experts and Roadside Drug Testing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Michigan drug recognition experts, DRE evaluations, and roadside saliva tests in OWI cases: what they show and how to challenge them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.baronedefensefirm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/woman-doing-walk-and-turn.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Patrick Barone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. 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