David Solet Calls for Action on Drugged Driving Crisis, Pledges Reforms as Middlesex District Attorney
Candidate Points to Middlesex County's 41 Losses in 43 OUI-Drugs Trials, Calls for Long-Overdue Reforms to Protect Public Safety
Middlesex County, MA – Democratic candidate for Middlesex District Attorney David Solet is calling for urgent action to address Massachusetts' growing drugged-driving problem, criticizing the failure of the current District Attorney Marian Ryan to fight to better equip law enforcement and prosecutors with the tools needed to keep impaired drivers off the road.
Unlike alcohol impairment, which can be detected with a breathalyzer, there is currently no approved roadside equivalent for detecting drug impairment. As marijuana use, opioid abuse and other drug-related impairment have become more common, police officers and prosecutors have been left with outdated laws and limited tools to investigate and prosecute OUI-Drugs cases.
"When it comes to drunk driving, Massachusetts has long struggled to protect the public," said Solet. "But when it comes to drivers operating under the influence of drugs, we're doing even worse. Our current District Attorney has sat by passively while the problem continues to grow, and people are getting hurt. As District Attorney, I will make addressing drugged driving a priority and fight for the legislative reforms needed to hold impaired drivers accountable and keep our roads safe."
According to publicly available court data, 71 percent of OUI-Drugs cases prosecuted in Middlesex County between 2020 and 2024 were dismissed. Among the cases that proceeded to trial, Middlesex prosecutors secured convictions in just 2 of 43 cases.
"Those numbers should concern every resident of Middlesex County," said Solet. "When prosecutors lose 41 out of 43 trials involving drugged driving, that tells us something is wrong. It tells us we are not providing law enforcement and prosecutors with the tools they need to succeed."
Solet pledged that, if elected District Attorney, he will work with law enforcement, legislators, public safety advocates, and prosecutors across the Commonwealth to advance evidence-based reforms aimed at improving the investigation and prosecution of OUI-Drugs offenses while protecting constitutional rights and due process.
"Being District Attorney isn't about sitting by passively and accepting failure," Solet said. "It's about identifying problems, pursuing solutions, and protecting the public. The current approach isn't working. We can do better, and as District Attorney, I will."
In 2019, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission convened the Special Commission on Operating Under the Influence and Impaired Driving, bringing together law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, medical experts, toxicologists, and civil liberties advocates to study the problem. The Commission found that existing Massachusetts laws were ill-equipped to address drugged driving and issued a series of unanimous or near-unanimous recommendations for reform.
Those recommendations formed the basis of legislation filed by former Governor Charlie Baker known as the "Trooper Thomas Clardy Law," named in honor of Massachusetts State Trooper and Marine Corps veteran Thomas Clardy, who was killed by a motorist who had THC in his system and marijuana products in his car when he crossed multiple lanes of traffic and struck Clardy’s State Police cruiser.
Despite support from other prosecutors across the state, the incumbent Middlesex District Attorney refused to speak out in favor of the legislation. The proposed reforms failed to advance, and six years later Massachusetts law remains largely unchanged.
"The result is exactly what many experts warned would happen," Solet said. "We are still struggling to identify drug-impaired drivers, prosecutors are losing most of the cases that are brought, and innocent people are getting hurt. We can do better."
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