The East Lansing Police Department made fewer than four arrests for drugged driving, compared to 479 arrests for drunken driving in 2007, Daley said.

But what if a driver inhaled secondhand smoke?

Daley said there is no way to test that, which only adds to the difficulty of catching a drugged driver.

“It’s not that we have a hard time catching (drugged drivers). It’s the burden of proof, more than anything else,” Daley said.

Robert Walker, assistant program manager for the Institute for Behavior and Health, said he is working on an initiative to get drugged drivers off the road.

Walker said he is aiming for a zero-tolerance law for drugged driving in all states.

In other words, if the police catch a driver who they suspect has been driving while under the influence of drugs, that driver will face charges, no matter the amount of drugs is in his or her system.

“We just want people to think twice … about getting in the car after they’ve smoked marijuana or drugs,” Walker said.

Linda Maloney, an assistant Ingham County prosecutor, said state law prohibits the act of operating a vehicle while under the influence of any schedule I narcotic, which includes drugs such as cocaine, opium or PHP. For any other drug, a police officer must be able to prove the drug has affected a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle to press charges.

Maloney said she would not agree to implementing a zero-tolerance law for drivers under the influence of drugs because it could omit a lot of prescription drugs that people need for health reasons.

“The straight-across-the-board ban would be impractical and it wouldn’t add to the safety of the community,” Maloney said.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Web site reported that marijuana was the most prevalent drug detected in fatal vehicle accidents in which drugs were involved. Cocaine, opiates and amphetamines also were common drugs linked to crashes.

Daley said although drugged driving isn’t a big issue in East Lansing, there still should be better guidelines in the law for policing it.

Some students said driving high isn’t always as bad as driving under the influence of alcohol.

Interdisciplinary studies in social science senior Paul Marchant said his experiences have shown that drugged drivers have the ability to be more attentive than drunken drivers.

“Being drunk is totally different than being on drugs,” Marchant said. “On drugs, you’re not sloppy … you’re just relaxed.”

But social work junior Kaili McGrath said the zero-tolerance law for drugs is necessary because drugs pose as much of a threat as alcohol.

“With both, it’s unsafe and harder to do for the driver,” McGrath said.

MSU police Sgt. Randy Holton said similar to East Lansing, drugged driving on campus is not as much of an issue as drunken driving.

Holton said if police encounter a driver who appears to be under the influence of a substance and results from Breathalyzer tests don’t show alcohol intake, they can get a search warrant and take the driver to a hospital for blood and urine tests.

Based on the results, a prosecutor would then decide if charges should be made against the driver.

Driving under the influence of either drugs or alcohol is a hazard to the road, Walker said.

And driving with a combination of both in your system can be even worse, he added.

“It goes through the roof and it’s not even on the chart — that’s where the accident risk is greatest,” Walker said.