Impairment Science Origin Story: Druid App to Druid Enterprise
Our Mission
Impairment Science, Inc. applies neuroscience research to educate users about their level of cognitive and motor impairment and to provide a means for businesses and other organizations to assess the impairment of their employees and members.
Our History
Dr. Michael Milburn, Professor of Psychology for nearly 40 years at the University of Massachusetts/Boston, conceived the idea for the Druid app in 2016. With the increasing decriminalization and legalization of cannabis use, he realized that there was no current test for cannabis impairment. He believed he could devise a quick, accurate, and inexpensive test that would save lives and reduce injury by enabling people to make safer, more informed decisions about their behavior.
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Applying neuroscience research, Dr. Milburn developed the Druid app, founding the company and launching the app in 2018. Not long thereafter, Wired Magazine published an article about Druid, causing a sensation. In a matter of weeks, Druid was downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play more than 10,000 times.​​
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In order to improve the app and confirm its accuracy, the company, then called Druidapp, sought and received an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) to undertake research in conjunction with The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. That research proved the accuracy, sensitivity, and validity of Druid to detect impairment from cannabis. A second research study, this one with Massachusetts State Troopers as subjects, proved Druid’s equal ability to detect impairment due to alcohol. Recognizing that impairment due to any other cause affects cognitive and motor functions in the same way they are affected by cannabis and alcohol, the company made Druid available to detect impairment generally.​
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In 2020, the company - renamed Impairment Science, Inc. - launched Druid Enterprise for companies and other organizations seeking to increase workplace safety. Druid Enterprise is a management portal, database, and analytical engine that tracks and analyzes the Druid scores of company employees or organization members.
