MERIDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — For decades, police have been arresting drunk drivers and measuring their blood alcohol levels.

But in October, the Connecticut Forensic Lab started testing all impaired drivers for drugs, and even the experts were shocked by what they found.

“It’s not simply alcohol combined with one drug combined with alcohol,” Dr. Jessica Gleba, the director of Forensic Lab Operations, said. “We are seeing multiple drugs used together and often combined with alcohol.”

Fentanyl and carfentanyl use are on the rise and the data shows people are combining multiple drugs at an alarming rate.

“The data revealed, in 2025, 14% of cases analyzed had 10 or more drugs present, an increase compared to 2022, when the number was 6%,” Gleba said.

Approximately 50% of cases in 2025 had five or more drugs detected, according to the Connecticut Forensic Lab.

Not only is the state lab finding more and more combinations of drugs in impaired drivers, Connecticut is also seeing more fatal accidents caused by impaired drivers.

Across the country, around 30% of fatal crashes are caused by impaired drivers. Joe Cristalli, Jr., the CTDOT Highway Safety Office director, said Connecticut is well above that.

“The impaired rate is 40% – between 37% and 40% – and we’re one of the highest in the country,” Cristalli said.

It is the season for holiday parties, but it is also cold and flu season, and over the counter medicine can impair your driving, especially combined with alcohol.

The message from law enforcement is clear.

“If you are caught, you will be arrested, you will be presented for prosecution, which means you’re going to have to appear before a judge in the State of Connecticut,” commissioner Ronnell Higgins of the Deptartment of Emergency Services & Public Protection said. “I don’t know how clearer I can be.”

In other words, don’t drink or use drugs and get behind the wheel.