Pubdate: Tue, 26 Nov 2002 Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA) Copyright: 2002 The Times-Picayune Contact: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848 Author: Joan Treadway DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING GAINS LA. ATTENTION Study urges zero tolerance laws Driving while on drugs -- a problem long overshadowed by its counterpart, drunken driving -- is the target of mounting national attention that is being closely monitored in Louisiana. Federal health surveys show that each year more than 8 million Americans drive within two hours of using marijuana or cocaine, but current law in most states, including Louisiana, makes them difficult to prosecute, said Michael Walsh, who was director of the President's Drug Advisory Council under the first Bush administration. He was a leader in producing two documents released in mid-November, an analysis of states' drugged-driving laws and a consensus opinion on possible solutions from experts. Only eight states have "zero tolerance" laws, which make it a criminal offense to have a drug in your system while operating a motor vehicle, Walsh said. The rest say either that drugs have to render a driver "incapable of safely operating a vehicle" or that that the driver has to be "under the influence" of drugs, as is the case in Louisiana. The result is that across most of the country, a prosecutor bears the burden of proving that a driver was impaired by drugs, while a good defense attorney can counter that the motorist was just tired or that their driving had been affected by a small accident, such as spilling coffee, he said. Among the recommendations of Walsh, who operates a consulting firm in Bethesda, Md., and the American Bar Association, which researched the issue in collaboration with him, are that states should consider adopting zero tolerance laws on drugged drivers and that they should mandate treatment for offenders. Louisiana at least has stringent sanctions for people convicted and also offers treatment options in exchange for a reduced sentence, Walsh said. The study received financing from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Walsh said another problem in the prosecution of drugged drivers is that new technologies for quickly analyzing blood or urine samples are being underutilized. Tackling the problem Walsh said he was pleased that federal officials on Tuesday launched a campaign against drugged drivers, citing statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that say that about 4,500 drivers killed in crashes in 2000 had used drugs other than alcohol. The program will include public service announcements warning motorists of the dangers of driving while on drugs and financing to teach police officers to identify such motorists. John Young, an assistant district attorney in Jefferson Parish and the chairman of Gov. Foster's vehicular homicide DWI task force, said that drugged drivers are a growing problem in Louisiana, as is evident from the cases crossing his desk. The task force recommended revamping state law to make it closer to a zero tolerance statute, only to see the proposal watered down by the Legislature in 2001. Not all was lost, however, Young said. The changes, which will take effect next year, for the first time make it an offense if a driver is found to have knowingly exceeded the recommended dosage of a drug or combined it with alcohol in defiance of a warning label -- even if the drug is not on the list of substances off-limits to drivers. Young said the changes will make it possible to prosecute abuse of drugs such as carisoprodol, a popular muscle relaxer sold under the brand name Soma. Overworked, understaffed Young said he would welcome new technology to address the problem, as well as a quicker turnaround time when body fluid specimens from suspected drugged drivers are sent from his parish to a State Police crime laboratory in Baton Rouge. But John Ricca, who directs the lab's analysis of drug use, said he doesn't have enough employees to deal with samples from suspected drugged motorists received from across the state. As a result, it can take five months to complete a round of testing, he said. His colleague, Sgt. Terry Chustz, who runs the State Police testing unit for alcohol- and drug-impaired drivers, said that a program to train officers to recognize drugged drivers is working well. His agency already has about 50 specialists and plans to train about 50 more by the middle of next year. Baton Rouge resident Cathy Childers, director of the state Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said that she would support a move to establish zero tolerance for drugged drivers in Louisiana, although she doesn't expect the Legislature to enact it yet. "Maybe when 20 other states have it," she said. Tiffany Tate, a spokesperson for the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, backs zero tolerance. "We need laws to protect ourselves," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh