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Matt Slawson, chief of forensic toxicology at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services, is pictured in an undated photo at the Utah Public Health Laboratory. Slawson says more DUI suspects' blood samples contain both alcohol and drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and Fentanyl.

Photo supplied, Utah Department of Public Safety

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A technician works with DUI suspects' blood samples in this undated photo taken at the Utah Public Health Laboratory. Officials say more drivers are being found with both alcohol and drugs in their systems.

Photo supplied, Utah Department of Public Safety

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State authorities are sounding an alarm about an increase in alcohol-drug combination DUI cases and the resulting toll in wrecks and fatalities.

And in response to the safety threat, the Utah Highway Patrol and local police agencies across the state plan to conduct extra DUI enforcement patrols during the holiday season, through Jan. 1.

For the past two years, the Utah Highway Safety Office has funded a toxicology position at the Utah Public Health Laboratory focusing on DUI arrest cases, according to information provided during a news conference Wednesday. Blood samples sent by police to the lab are tested for both alcohol and drugs.

“We’ve been able to collect a lot more data about drug use in combination with alcohol,” said Matt Slawson, chief of forensic toxicology at the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

“Oftentimes, the alcohol in combination with other drugs creates what can be considered an additive effect where the two, especially when we’re talking about sedatives, they will work together to create an even more sedated state,” Slawson said.

Alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine are the top three drugs showing up in samples, he said. Other drugs found include cocaine, opioids (heroin/morphine, Oxycodone, Fentanyl) and sedatives (Xanax, Ambien, Valium, Klonopin).

In some mixtures, Slawson said, “the combined effect is even greater than the sum of its individual parts. And so it can create really dangerous impairment in those situations.”

In the years since the additional testing has been conducted, about two-thirds of tests have found drugs and alcohol and one-third contained alcohol only, according to the Highway Safety Office.

So far in 2022 there have been 290 fatal crashes, resulting in 312 fatalities. There have been 818 alcohol-related crashes and 43 alcohol-related fatalities. The agency added that Utah crash data from 2017-2021 shows that alcohol-related driver crashes are 6.4 times more likely to be fatal than other crashes.

About 230 extra shifts for DUI enforcement will be worked by 25 law enforcement agencies in Utah during the holidays.

“We’re telling everyone ahead of time that we’re increasing enforcement statewide and actively looking for impaired drivers, with the hope that this will help prevent people from choosing to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol or taking impairing drugs,” the Highway Safety Office said in a statement.

Along with more police on duty, officers are being better trained to detect symptoms of impaired driving.

Drug Recognition Expert and Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement training are available to law enforcement officers statewide to enhance their abilities to detect, arrest and assist with prosecuting drug- and alcohol-impaired drivers and to serve as experts within their agencies, the UHP said in a news release.

“It is important that law enforcement officers have the resources and training available to them to improve the skills needed to identify and arrest impaired drivers,” UHP Sgt. Jared Cornia said in the release. “The goal of these courses is to train officers to recognize impaired drivers under the influence of drugs or a combination of drugs and alcohol.”