DRIVING SENSE

Outside of a few potheads and wackos, it's hard to imagine anyone
opposing the federal governmment's proposed new legislation cracking
down on drivers who are high on drugs.

Oh, we know that a few misguided souls will step forward to argue
that marijuana and other street drugs do nothing to impair their
driving ability.

And some of them will trot out that old canard about how smoking up
actually makes them more careful and aware.

That, to put it simply, is a crock. It's not the conclusion of police
and other emergency professionals who have to deal with the results
of impaired driving as part of their regular jobs; the people who get
called to the horrifying scenes of car accidents and have to pick
through the wreckage for body parts.

The cops and the ambulance attendants know that operating a motor
vehicle is a job that demands all of our senses be operating at peak
performance - if it is to be done successfully.

Being impaired, whether by booze or by street drugs, dulls reflexes
and heightens the sense of invincibility, and that can be a deadly combination.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the Criminal Code will be amended
to give police more powers to apprehend and test drug-impaired
drivers, increase penalties and promote awareness of the problem.

The legislation is to be introduced when the House of Commons returns
from its Remembrance Day break next week.

The prime minister acknowledged there are still technological
challenges in terms of testing for certain kinds of drugs.

But he added that there are tests available and "there are ways to
strengthen the legislation to get convictions in clear cases" of
driving under the influence of drugs.

A few short decades ago, we were having the same kind of debate about
keeping drivers off the road after they had consumed too much alcohol
to safely operate a motor vehicle.

People complained that breathalyser tests were a violation of our
rights; that they could drive better after having a few drinks; that
police should be looking for "real" criminals rather than harassing
people whose only crime was that they stayed too long at happy hour.

Today, no rational person would think of getting behind the wheel
after downing a few martinis or a couple of six packs of beer.

It's time to apply the same kind of rules to people smoking dope or
using other forms of street drugs.

If they're going to be sharing the roads with the rest of us, then
let them share the same rules.

Bring on the legislation.