DRUG-RELATED ROAD DEATHS GET NEW FOCUS

Federal Campaign To Include Public Service Warnings, Training For Officers

WASHINGTON - Federal officials embarked yesterday on their most
comprehensive effort to reduce the thousands of deaths linked to drivers
under the influence of illegal drugs.

The campaign will include public service announcements warning motorists of
the dangers, and a program to train police officers to identify drugged
drivers.

More than 17,000 people are killed each year in alcohol-related accidents.
There were 4,500 drivers killed in crashes in 2000 -- almost one in five --
who had used drugs other than alcohol, according to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.

NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge said police departments will step up
enforcement this holiday season, including more checkpoints to catch
driv-ers impaired by alcohol or drugs.

In addition, the government will fund programs to teach police officers to
identify drugged drivers by checking the pulse, reaction time, blood
pressure and size of pupils. There have been 5,500 officers trained in 35
states so far.

"We are losing thousands of individuals to drug-impaired driving," said
John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy. "This is not something we are powerless to do something about."

Although motorists who have a specified amount of alcohol in their blood
are automatically considered impaired, only 11 states have similar
regulations for drugs -- Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Minnesota, Rhode Island, Utah, and, in certain cases, Nevada, North
Carolina and South Dakota, according to NHTSA.

In the other states, prosecutors must prove that ability to drive was
impaired by drugs.