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Drugged Drivers

There's a growing movement in Congress to start arresting people for driving under the influence of illegal drugs. Trouble is of course, currently there are no tests for illegal drugs (or legal ones for that matter) that can be administered on a roadside or even at the station nor have any acceptable limits of drug impairment been set, as there are for alcohol. This however, does not deter those who support this unenforceable policy.

"Zero tolerance, is the level some lawmakers want Congress to establish. A motorist found to have any controlled substance in his or her system would be considered unlawfully impaired.

If they include controlled drugs legally available by prescription under this policy, the roads would certainly be empty. How many people do you know taking a drug that clearly states on the label that one should not operate heavy machinery? Do you think the soccer moms aren't driving around under the influence of Valium? Do you think the Nascar dads never mix prescription drugs with their Budweisers? And it's not just tranquilizers, mood elevators and pain medication. In fact, OTC antihistamines such as Benadryl alter sensorium and affect performance as much as alcohol. My blood pressure medicine has the warning. Does that mean I can never drive again? I have to take that every day.

And once again, since cannabis is the only the drug that is detectable for weeks after its impairing effects are gone, the unintended effect of this plan will be an increase in the use of other drugs that cause greater impairment of driving skills but are undetectable in blood or urine tests in a matter of hours. Ironically, not only has cannabis been shown to have no significant impact on driving, some studies have shown at least a slight indication that cannabis users are safer drivers. See this at Schaffer Library.

Those who are promoting this ill conceived plan can't even agree on how to get the states on board with it. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, would offer states that enact laws defining impaired as any detectable amount of drugs in a blood or urine sample, money for training police and prosecutors and for driver counseling. They would also get grants to research field tests to measure motorists' drug levels.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., would rather use coercion. His bill would make states that don't enact drug-impaired driving laws forfeit 1 percent of their annual federal highway funds to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The amount forfeited would double each year up to 50 percent.

Meanwhile, the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety agencies, is advising its members not to adopt drug-impaired driving laws at all for the time being.

"There has been little to no evaluation as to their effectiveness," said spokesman Jonathan Adkins. "Most drivers who are drug impaired are also alcohol-impaired, so police "get 'em" that way."

I'm all for road safety myself, but this plan will not make our roads any safer. They would do better to start cracking down on people going 10 miles and more below the speed limit in the left lane. Impaired or unimpaired, in my opinion those are the most dangerous drivers on the road.

[Thanks to Jules Siegel and Richard Lake for the links.]