Date: October 10, 2017
OCDA BRINGS PUBLIC AWARENESS TO THE DANGERS OF DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING THROUGH NEW INFORMATIVE VIDEOS
*The first of four videos is available today
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) is bringing public awareness to the dangers of drug-impaired driving through new informative videos. The OCDA Appellate and Training Unit, through its administration of the California Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program (TSRP), worked with the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) on the public service announcements (PSAs). The link to the first PSA addressing prescription drug impaired driving is listed below. The remaining three videos addressing marijuana and prescription drug impaired driving will be released each day this week.
Since 2011, OCDA has been working in partnership with OTS to develop a comprehensive DUI-Drug (DUID) training, education, and prosecution model. In addition to the eight-member OCDA vertical prosecution DUID team, two additional TSRP prosecutors were added to the program this year. The expanded team has increased training and outreach efforts beyond the southern California region to serve the entire state.
As part of these efforts, OCDA collaborated with film students from California State University Long Beach’s Surfside Productions and filmmakers at Irvine-based Colorblind Studios to develop four PSAs on the topic of marijuana and prescription drug impaired driving. The content, style, and dissemination plans for the videos were developed through several months of active engagement with stakeholders comprised of educators, college students, public health care professionals, criminalists, cannabis industry representatives, and law enforcement officers.
To watch the first PSA, please click the video below, or following link: https://www.facebook.com/pg/OCDATony/videos
The Appellate and Training Unit is headed by Assistant District Attorney Keith Bogardus. Assistant Heads of Court Susan Price and Nicole Nicholson and Deputy District Attorneys Hoon Chang and Kate Wagner oversee and administer all OTS grant operations.