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Drugged Driving Law Unjustified
Pubdate: Sat, 18 Nov 2006
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006, BC Newspaper Group
Contact: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Russell Barth
DRUGGED DRIVING LAW UNJUSTIFIED
To the Editor,
Re: New drugged driving laws. How can the government justify this new
affront to our civil rights and liberties?
Remember, this is the same government who wants to crack down on a
crime rate that has been steadily dropping.
Imagine this scenario: someone is driving around, stoned on
tranquilizers, painkillers, cold-medications or some combination
thereof. The driver gets pulled over and appears to the police
officer to be visibly impaired. The driver blows zero for alcohol and
his urine and blood samples test negative for illegal drugs.That
driver is free to go and repeat the offence.
But if the driver tests positive for even trace amounts of marijuana,
which may show up in the body for up to three months, they will be
booked for impaired driving.
Clearly, this new drugged driving legislation is designed
specifically to profile marijuana users.
How medical marijuana users will fare in this new pogrom is yet to be seen.
The new law will likely ignore the dangers of other impairment
factors such as a coffee, cigarettes, cell phones, rowdy pets and
passengers, over-the-counter or prescription medications, blood-sugar
imbalances, fatigue, inexperience, bad driving habits, old-age and
just plain old stupidity.
To focus on any one thing is arbitrary and discriminatory.
So much for Canada being a just society.
Russell Barth
Ottawa
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