Pubdate: Wed, 25 Jul 2012
Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)
Copyright: 2012 East Valley Tribune.
Contact: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/opinion/submit_a_letter/
Website: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2708
Author: Teri Cann

MANY DRUGS HANG AROUND IN SYSTEM FOR LONG TIME

Too bad the Tribune writer covering the growing drug DUI prosecutions
made so little effort to be thorough. What he fails to point out is
that many drugs and medications including the ones mentioned in the
article, marijuana and Oxycodone, remain in your body in an inactive
state long beyond the time of use and long beyond any point of impairment.

It's good for the prosecutor's business to point a finger at drug
abusers like Whitney Houston, but your neighbor who had a tooth pulled
last week and took painkillers for a day or two is just as likely to
be arrested in Mesa for DUI because the drug is still in his system.
Our laws state that it is illegal to have certain drugs in your body
and operate a vehicle, including marijuana which can remain for 30
days or more after use, long beyond any question of impairment.

So what the article really says is that the prosecutor knows this and
the city is cashing in on lab tests to collect fines from people who
are not impaired or a Whitney-like threat to our safety.

Perhaps what is needed is for the law to be changed, not more
taxpayer-funded lab facilities. To be fair and thorough, the writer
might perhaps have interviewed a defense attorney to get the other
side of the story.

Teri Cann

Mesa
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MAP posted-by: Matt