When Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers pulled over a vehicle that was being driven erratically and straddling two lanes, the answer as to what caused the wild driving was not immediately obvious.
According to the report, shared by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the driver appeared to be intoxicated. He had a blank stare, and he was unable to answer basic questions.
But troopers could not detect the smell of alcohol.
The troopers summoned a drug recognition expert (DRE), who determined the man’s impairment was not due to alcohol consumption but rather due to a medical condition. Medical personnel later determined that the man had suffered a stroke.
At a recent Laramie County Commissioners meeting, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak requested the commissioners authorize a grant application to the Wyoming Department of Transportation for upward of $400,000 for fiscal year 2027 to continue the state’s DRE training program and certify more drug recognition experts.
The program, which operates in every state, is crucial to keeping drug-induced drivers off the roads, Kozak told Cowboy State Daily.
Drugged Driving Stats in Wyoming
A Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) assists in DUI arrests when the person arrested is not impaired by alcohol. DREs run assessments to determine whether a drug is causing the impairment and if so, which type of drug. DREs are also trained to recognize medical impairment and psychological dysfunction.
Increased access to drugs has affected the state in recent years, according to the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving Strategic Plan.
Drug impaired fatalities also continue to rise.
According to the state’s 2024-2026 Triennial Highway Safety Plan, more than 18% of DUI arrests are drug-related, and more than 22% of traffic crashes resulting in arrests have involved drugs.
Lt. Evan Storch with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department runs the state’s DRE training program.
According to Storch, in 2025, the top drug categories that showed up in the state’s drugged driving arrest reports included meth and cocaine (141), with marijuana a close second (135). Fentanyl, heroin and prescription pain pills accounted for 77 of the drug-induced driving arrests.
Not For Every Law Enforcement Officer
But training to recognize exactly how a drug impairs a person’s system is extensive, Storch said.
To become certified, trainees must evaluate at least 12 people under the influence of drugs and identify the correct drug category causing the impairment. Trainees must complete at least 110 hours of training initially and attend additional training every two years to remain certified.
“It’s not designed for every law enforcement officer,” Storch said. “You have to find the right people who want to do it. There’s a lot involved with it.”
Almost Lost in Wyoming
In 2018, the state’s DRE program transitioned from a private contractor to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. It was still being managed by the highway patrol when Kozak stepped into the Laramie County Sheriff’s role in 2023.
But the program was in jeopardy, Kozak said. The highway patrol was in discussions about discontinuing the program because it was about to lose its coordinator. The agency did not plan to re-apply for the state grant that had funded the program, Kozak said.
According to the resolution Kozak submitted to county commissioners, the Wyoming Department of Transportation receives Advanced Impaired Driving Detection funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and can distribute a portion of these 2027 funds to Wyoming counties.
If Wyoming — a state that consistently ranks among the worst in the country for overall impaired driving — lost its DRE program, it would be the only state in the nation without any DREs.
Kozak, relatively new to the Laramie County Sheriff’s position and a DRE himself with a 30-plus-year track record, offered to take over the program. He asked Storch to coordinate the program for the state.
Kozak's efforts earned him the International Drug Recognition Expert of the Year in 2024. He is the only DRE in Wyoming to ever have received the award.
“The reason I think I was recognized was because I saved the program in Wyoming,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
Drug Recognition Enforcement in Wyoming
As the DRE coordinator, Storch coordinates DUI and advanced DUI trainings, as well as drug recognition training.
“The training the officers receive helps them identify drug-impaired drivers,” Storch told Cowboy State Daily. “Without it, we’d be stuck with standardized field sobriety tests (to determine) whether to arrest or prosecute somebody.”
With drug-induced driving on the rise in Wyoming, DRE training is growing more significant, Storch said. DREs give patrol personnel the “ability to get drug-impaired drivers off the road.”
Storch’s work is funded through the grant that Kozak requested to be submitted to the Wyoming Department of Transportation via the Laramie County Commissioners. Along with paying for Storch’s salary, the grant money also covers travel expenses, equipment and training resources. It also pays for overtime of DREs.
In 2025, Wyoming’s drug recognition experts completed 302 evaluations — more than three times the number of evaluations completed the year prior. DRE evaluations are particularly heavy along the I-80 corridor, Storch said.
Wyoming currently has 47 certified drug recognition experts.
The DRE program was developed in the early 1970s. It was formally recognized by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1979, with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) adopting it in the early 1980s.
The program now boasts more than 8,000 certified officers in the United States.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
