SPONSOR KILLS BILL GIVING POLICE LEEWAY TO CHECK DRIVERS FOR DRUGS

Legislation targeting drug-impaired drivers is dead for this legislative
session and will be studied by lawmakers this summer.

Rep. Mae Beavers, sponsor of the bill, requested the study yesterday after
it appeared that she did not have the votes for approval in the House
Judiciary Committee.

Committee members raised a variety of questions about the bill, which some
said gave too much discretion to the arresting officer. The bill would have
allowed an officer to conduct a test for drugs if a driver appeared
impaired, even if the driver had passed the Breathalyzer test for alcohol.

Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, said the state was forgoing $500,000 in federal
funds by not approving the legislation this year. The money would have been
used to train officers in drug recognition.

Rep. Bobby Sands, D-Columbia, said allowing a second test would give
officers too much leeway. Sands said he also was concerned that Metro
Police Chief Emmett Turner or some other high-ranking police official had
not appeared before the committee to discuss the bill.

Metro Police Officer Robert Conley, who told the committee that he was one
of only two officers in Tennessee trained in drug recognition, said drivers
on drugs are a growing problem.

Conley told the committee that a study at the University of Tennessee
Hospital in Knoxville in 1988 indicated that 40% of the impaired drivers
that came through the hospital's trauma center were impaired by drugs other
than alcohol. A similar study at Vanderbilt University Hospital in 1997
indicated that 43% were impaired.

Rep. Frank Buck, the committee chairman, said he was afraid the bill would
lead to abuses by police. "Probable cause is in the eye of the beholder,"
he said.