DRUGS DETECTED IN 33 PERCENT OF KILLED DRIVERS

One-third of all drug tests on drivers killed in motor vehicle
accidents came back positive for drugs ranging from hallucinogens to
prescription painkillers last year, according to a National Highway
Transportation Safety Administration report released Tuesday.

The report, the agency's first analysis of drug use in traffic
crashes, showed a five percentage point increase in the number of
tested drivers found to have drugs in their systems since 2005 -- from
28 percent to 33 percent. The increase coincided with more drivers
being tested for drugs over that period, the report shows.

Sixty-three percent of all drivers killed were tested last year for
drugs -- a 7-percentage point increase since 2005, the report shows.

Gil Kerlikowske, director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, said the numbers of fatalities involving drugs is "alarmingly
high," and called for more states to pass laws making it a crime to
have illegal drugs in the body while driving.

Seventeen states already have some form of such laws, including
Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan,
Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island,
South Dakota, Utah, Virginia and, Wisconsin, according to the NHTSA.
Minnesota law specifically exempts marijuana.

TN Weighs Changes

The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference is pushing for
changes to state law to toughen impaired driving laws next year,
including the possibility of cheek swabs to test for drugs. In
Tennessee, the federal report found that 21 percent of drivers killed
in wrecks who were tested had drugs in their system.

While much research has been done on the impact of alcohol on driving,
little has been done on the impact of drugs on driving, highway safety
researchers say. The NHTSA analysis doesn't address whether the drugs
were at levels that would impair driving. Plus, the data is reported
to the federal highway agency by the states, which vary widely in how
often they test for drugs, the report notes.

The highway administration said Maine didn't report any drivers tested
for drugs. New Mexico and Hawaii, in contrast, tested all their
drivers killed in wrecks, the agency said.

Jim Lavine, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense
Lawyers, said drug tests don't always pinpoint when the person took
the drug -- it could have been days or weeks ago.

"Criminal laws are supposed to address conduct that is knowingly in
violation of a law," he said. "Per se laws put the burden on the
citizen as opposed to the state (to prove innocence)." He also pointed
out that many states have medical marijuana laws where people can
legally use marijuana to treat illness.

Dr. Robert DuPont, a psychiatrist who worked as the drug czar under
Presidents Nixon and Ford, said studies do show that marijuana and
some prescription drugs impair driving.

"For a truck driver, there is no safe marijuana number. There is no
safe cocaine number. How do you feel about pilots on marijuana? "