PUBLIC SAFETY BOSS WANTS CLEAR LAWS IN PLACE AGAINST STONED DRIVERS

We know not to drive drunk.

But what about driving high?

Department of Public Safety Secretary Tom English said he wants to make it
clear during this Legislative session that stoned drivers also are breaking
the law.

"We have a enough of a problem with drunk drivers. We want to make sure
people understand the state is in no way wanting people to drive if they've
consumed marijuana."

However, it's more difficult to measure a driver's blood marijuana level
than his or her blood alcohol level, English said.

"So we're working with scientists to see what the testing (for marijuana)
would be like."

Rep. Al Park plans to sponsor the bill, which could allow officers to use a
finger prick device to test drivers' blood for marijuana.

"This is another arrow in the officers' quiver," said Park, an Albuquerque
Democrat.

"I don't want people driving while intoxicated - or high."

English said he's not sure how many stoned drivers are arrested each year,
but the department needs the measure to "make sure there's no loophole so
you can drive while you're high."

English said Gov. Gary Johnson agreed to put the measure on his call, which
is the agenda for items this session not related to the budget.

The measure is one of a handful of policy changes the department is seeking
this year.

Another also has to do with drivers who are intoxicated.

A bill likely to be sponsored by Sens. Kent Cravens and Ramsay Gorham, both
Albuquerque Republicans, would create a registry of people who are
convicted three or more times of drunken driving.

"We're not talking about someone who does it once and makes a mistake,"
English said. "We're after people who make mistake and mistake after mistake."

The registry wouldn't be accessible to the public. English said about 1,000
New Mexicans have at least three DWI convictions and would have to register.

"If someone has three convictions, they've probably done it 500 to 600
times," he said.

Also during the session, the department is seeking to tweak the state's sex
offender act, known as the Megan's Law.

That law requires convicted sex offenders to register their whereabouts
with law-enforcement authorities.

The state, the last in the nation to pass such a bill, has to improve the
law to meet federal requirements, English said. If the measure isn't
tightened, the state could lose $400,000 in federal crime fighting grant money.

One change that could be made, Gorham said, would extend the length of time
for which convicted offenders must keep registering with law- enforcement
officials.

A bill being drafted would make mandatory lifetime registration for the
most violent sex offenders and a 20-year period for less violent sex criminals.

Also on the department's list is a bill that would require law enforcement
officials to fingerprint everyone arrested in New Mexico.

English said that used to be the case "but compliance has sort of drifted."

The bill, sponsored last year by Albuquerque Republican Rep. Joe Mohorovic,
would require law enforcement agencies to submit the fingerprints to the
Department of Public Safety, which in turn forwards copies to the Federal
Bureau of Investigations.

English said he's also working with legislators on measures that would
heighten the penalties for murdering a police officer and for fleeing a
police officer.