POLK BUSTED FOR DRIVING STONED

City Councilman Erwin "Richard" Polk was arrested on suspicion of
driving under the influence of drugs just after 9 p.m. on Monday.
Officer Keith Steinman pulled Polk over after he observed Polk
driving unusually slowly and straddling lanes at the intersection of
15th and Pearl streets. When Polk rolled down his window, Steinman
reportedly detected a strong odor of marijuana coming from both the
car and from Polk. He put Polk through roadside maneuvers and
confiscated some pot, a pipe and rolling papers.

But the story doesn't stop there. Polk reportedly asked the officer,
"Wait, can we do something else? I'm a Boulder City Council member.
I'm embarrassed."

Well, Polk should be embarrassed, but not for smoking pot. Boulder is
No. 1 nationwide for marijuana use, after all. (OK, so it's No. 2
behind Boston, but that's only because Boulder people are modest and
don't like to brag.) No, smoking pot isn't why Polk should be embarrassed.

What should embarrass him is that he allegedly got behind the wheel
while stoned. Driving is dangerous enough without having your brain
buzzing in the ozone. Driving under the influence of
anything-alcohol, ganja, your cell phone, orgasms, iPods-is
irresponsible and gets people killed. It's just not cool.

But what's even more embarrassing than being caught in an alleged DUI
is Polk's apparent assumption that his being a member of City Council
meant that he should somehow be treated differently than the average
pothead. If he truly believes this, then shame on him.

Of course, there's a chance he didn't really mean it. Perhaps his
words were simply ill chosen, more the mingling adrenaline and THC
than an expression of his true intentions. We hope so. We'd hate to
think that civic leadership in our city is following the path of that
in the corporate world and Washington, D.C., where authority means
jockeying for power and privilege and not public service.