DRUGGED DRIVING

To the editor:

We all support the goal of keeping impaired drivers off the road,
regardless of whether the driver is impaired by alcohol or other
drugs. However, Rep. Jon Porter's proposal ("Congress must address
issue of drugged driving," March 21) to withhold federal highway funds
from states that do not amend their driving-under-the-influence-of-drugs
laws to enact mandatory minimum penalties is an unnecessary and
unfunded federal mandate.

Virtually all states already have DUID statutes on the books. Most are
"effect-based" laws that forbid drivers to operate a motor vehicle if
they are either "under the influence" of a controlled substance, or if
they have been rendered "incapable of driving safely" because of their
use of an illicit drug. This is a multidisciplinary standard that
rightly punishes motorists who drive while impaired from having
recently used illicit drugs. There is no need for additional
legislation.

By contrast, Rep. Porter's legislation would mandate states to
uniformly pass so-called "zero tolerance" per se laws, which would
sanction anyone who operates a motor vehicle while any detectable
amount of a controlled substance or drug metabolite (inert compounds
indicative of past drug use) is present in their body, as measured in
the person's blood, urine, saliva or other bodily substance. In other
words, sober drivers would be defined as "impaired" solely because
they had used a controlled substance some days or weeks previously.
Imagine if we established such a standard for alcohol.

At a minimum, laws targeting drugged drivers should identify "parent
drugs" (i.e., THC and cocaine), not simply drug metabolites, and
include scientifically sound cutoff levels similar to those that exist
for drunken driving. "Zero tolerance" per se laws like those supported
by Rep. Porter are neither a safe nor sensible way to identify
impaired drivers. They are an attempt to misuse the traffic safety
laws in order to identify and prosecute illicit drug users.

PAUL ARMENTANO

WASHINGTON, D.C.

The writer is a senior policy analyst for the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.