Proposed legislation would close loophole for drivers under influence of drugs

Three years ago, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended New York join most of the rest of the country by closing a gap in state law that advocates say permits drugged drivers to walk free. At a Manhattan symposium yesterday, prosecutors and state lawmakers said 2026 could be the year.

Nicholas Spangler reports in NEWSDAY that New York is one of just four states — the others are Alaska, Florida and Massachusetts — to require law enforcement to name the drug and for it to be on a statutorily established list of controlled substances before they can charge someone with driving under the influence.

While alcohol remains the leading cause of impaired driving, drugged driving is a growing threat, according to the NTSB. State data showed about a quarter of Long Island’s fatal crashes had a “drug-involved driver” in 2023. Authorities in Nassau and Suffolk and across New York have called the state’s current approach unwieldy as law enforcement officers encounter drivers under the influence of synthetic drugs like bromazolam, xylazine and propofol, along with hundreds of more obscure varieties that are created every year.

“We now have synthetic drugs, created in labs, continually being changed and peddled on our streets,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told those gathered for Wednesday’s symposium including families of people killed in crashes with drugged drivers. A bill now in the NYS Legislature, introduced last March but amended this week, would expand the legal basis of intoxication from alcohol to other drugs, including those not on the state list or those not able to be identified.

Hundreds of new drugs are created every year, Tierney said. “There is no list that could hope to keep up.”

The proposed legislation would update state law on field testing for drugged driving to include the use of tests that screen for multiple types of drugs and make refusal to take a test a traffic infraction.

Earlier versions of the bill failed to pass in the 2021-22 and 2023-24 legislative sessions.

Tierney said the current version, sponsored by state Sen. Christopher Ryan, a Democrat, who represents a district outside Syracuse, includes “safeguards” that could ease passage this time. They include an exception to the bill for drivers having a medical emergency or allergic reaction and a provision requiring collection of data on the number of stops, arrests and convictions made under the bill, along with demographic data, which Tierney said would be analyzed to determine whether minority motorists are subject to an inordinate number of traffic stops.

The bill also includes a five-year sunset clause, which Tierney said would give lawmakers an opportunity to review its effectiveness.

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The Pierson High School doors were opened to parents and residents on Tuesday night for a community forum meant to inform them about an upcoming vote on a bond referendum, scheduled for January 22, 2026, that would fund a large-scale $40 million facilities improvement project. Cailin Riley reports on 27east.com that if approved, the bond will allow the district to greatly enhance multiple learning environments at the school and create new ones for students, while also presenting new opportunities for the community at large.

The projected average monthly cost to Sag Harbor homeowners is $7.37 over the life of the 30-year bond. The project would allow for the building of a new high school gymnasium, to replace the current gym, which has not been upgraded since it was built in 1967; a new and improved space for the school’s Robotics Club, which is currently housed in a windowless basement room that was formerly a closet; a brand new marine science lab, a facility that has been present for years at nearby schools like Southampton and Westhampton Beach; additional classroom space for musical instruction, which is currently lacking; an...