Posted on 06/23/2011 4:55:31 PM PDT by AustralianConservative
Ed Wood is on a mission to change state laws regarding drugged driving.
Wood has a very personal stake in the issue. His son, 33-year-old Brian Wood, was among three people killed in a Sept. 3, 2010, car crash on North Whidbey last fall. Evidence introduced at trial showed the two Oak Harbor women responsible for the collision had illegal drugs in their systems.
Wood, a Colorado resident, wasn't happy about the sentences handed down this month to the women. But he hopes his story of loss and injustice will spur a law change in this and other states.
"It would bring some solace," he said, if the tragedy leads to something positive.
Wood wants lawmakers to adopt a "drug per se law" to make it easier for prosecutors to convict people of driving while drugged. He said one of the reasons that the two women who caused his son's death received lenient sentences is state law that makes it difficult for prosecutors to convict defendants of driving while under the influence of drugs.
As state law stands today, it's not illegal for any driver, with the exception of commercial drivers, to get behind the wheel with drugs in their blood. It is illegal if they are "under the influence of or affected" by a drug, which can be difficult for cops or prosecutors to prove.
Wood spoke at length about drugged driving laws at the sentencing hearing. He said he wants Washington to join a growing list of states that have enacted "drug per se laws." They can either be zero-tolerance laws that ban people from driving with any level of drugs in their systems. Or they can mimic drinking-and-driving laws, which set a legal limit.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattlepi.com ...
What about prescription drugs?
What about prescription drugs?
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Like Marijuana?
Marijuana isn’t a legal prescription drug in my home state of Texas. Is it legal in Washington state where this story is from?
In Washington state, probably.
Our government lets (or requires) pilots of 100 million dollar warcraft to use prescription methamphetamine to keep them awake, alert and functioning properly on long flights.
This little secret was unearthed back in the 80s through FOIA requests when Reagan sent F111 bombers from England to Libya and back in the 1986 raid on Libya.
It’s always difficult to respond to a bereaved person pushing a bad idea.
She was convicted of vehicular homicide. She was sentenced to 8 years. Change the law and she could be sentenced to 11 years.
The per se laws will not make the roads any safer but could put into legal jeopardy a lot of people on prescription medications.
That's what happens with guns.
When someone says their “ought to be a law” 9 times out of 10 there shouldn’t be one...
Maybe they should talk t the one guy who daughter was killed by Jared Loughner....
That man is courageous for saying that there should not be a law when his own daughter was gunned down by a crazed gunman.
I don't drink and drive.
I often drink.
I often drive.
But I never do both at the same time.
I also don't take some OTC drugs and drive, because I am definitely mentally impaired when consuming many of them.
I think if you are involved in a vehicular collision, and were driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol...an extra degree of pemeditated criminal penalties should be included.
Accidents do happen, but we all avoid accidents every single time we drive our vehicles unimpaired.
Driving impaired by drugs or alcohol is an intentional added risk.
But drugs affect people differently. Just because you are involved in an accident and a particular drug is in your system doesn’t necessarily mean that that drug was at fault.
8 years for a death? Well, life is cheap isn’t it? Drug addicts are being mothered.
What about prescription drugs? Yes, let’s change the topic (lol). Okay. I’ll play.
If people don’t read their prescription drugs which tell them not to drive then they’re at fault. But to take an illegal drug is deliberate lawlessness.
I’m over smacked out drivers killing families. I hope you never get that “knock on the door” though.
To ignore prescription advice and take illegal drugs is a triple wrong.
Tell that to the family who lost their daughter to an LSD tripper. Not sure what your point is other than to excuse.
I read the labels. If I find a drug interferes with driving I either have others drive me or use a different drug. According to the standards advocated by the father of the man killed by the woman who had heroin and methamphetamine in her system, the mere presence of drugs in a driver involved in an accident should be considered as proof that the driver was impaired and was at fault. If some driver runs a red light at 40 miles per hour and hits me while I am legally in the intersection, that driver is at fault regardless of whether I am taking a medication. According to this proposed legislation, the presence of the medication is proof that a driver is at fault.
When I was taking 5 vicodins a day prior to and after my back surgery in 2001, I didn’t drive.
What about them?
I have to take a very heavy duty prescription drug when I get a migraine. There have been a couple of times when they have struck without warning when I was away from the house. I have either taken a taxi home or called someone to drive me home. I do not drive when I am not sober.
Prescription drugs that make you loopy have the warning clearly shown on the bottle. If you take them and drive then you are no different then the person who slammed back a fifth and climbs behind the wheel and you should be treated the same way.
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