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Guest Presenter: Mike Blute, DRE

Description:

Drug impairment is evolving—and so is detection. This session offers an inside look at the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) program, including the extensive training, standardized evaluation process, and how DREs identify impairment beyond alcohol. Guided by DRE trainer Mike Blute, participants will explore what officers are seeing in the field, emerging drug trends, and how DRE findings intersect with treatment, assessment, and referral pathways such as the Georgia DUI Risk Reduction program. 

We’ll also examine how DRE protocols are implemented across jurisdictions, including key differences in policies, legal thresholds, and courtroom challenges from state to state. Additional topics include common substances encountered, poly-drug use, documentation practices, and the reliability and limitations of DRE evaluations. Participants will gain practical insight into how DRE outcomes influence client trajectories and what helping professionals should understand when working with justice-involved individuals. 

Goals:  

Understand DRE training and protocols, explore field trends in drug impairment, and examine how DRE findings influence DUI Risk Reduction referrals, assessment practices, and cross-state policy considerations. 

Learning Objectives: 

Upon completion of this continuing education session, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe the DRE training process and the standardized 12-step evaluation used to assess drug impairment. 
2. Identify common substances, trends, and patterns observed by DREs in the field, including poly-drug use. 
3. Analyze how DRE findings inform referrals to DUI Risk Reduction programs and vary across state policies and legal frameworks. 

Dates and Times (EASTERN TIME)

October 9, 2026: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Eastern Time

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Details:

All sessions are live-hosted, screen-to-screen 1.5 hour Continuing Education Sessions (CES) with PRI Trainers. All sessions will be presented via Zoom. PRI is unable to award hours for sessions previously attended.

Please note that participants are responsible for ensuring online PRI sessions and the number of hours earned fulfill your system’s requirements. Credentialing requirements for online sessions stipulate all participants must (1) individually register, and (2) log into the online session on their own device to received credit/hours for attending. Learners who participate in an online session via shared login will not receive a certificate. Learners are also required to attend sessions in full for credit hours to be awarded.  Participants will receive a survey email after the session and will receive a certificate once the survey has been submitted. The link to the surveys are also available on the instructor site under “My Trainings.” Note, participants must attend the entire session.

PRI supports low risk driving choices. Therefore, we will remove anyone who is driving on a Zoom call hosted by our team. So as to not further distract, we will not chat or verbally ask questions first. You’ll be able to join a different Zoom session, from a stationary place, at a later date.