Safety hook: the politics of "drugged driving".

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - U.S. drug enforcement - Brief Article

IF JOHN P. WALTERS has his way, Friday night tokers will no longer be fired for failing Monday morning drug tests. Instead they'll be arrested on the way to work.

At a November press conference the federal drug czar announced an interagency; public-private campaign against "drugged driving." Along with TV spots that began airing in January and research aimed at developing "new technologies to identify drug-impaired drivers in the field," the initiative includes "model legislation" that treats drivers with any trace of illegal drugs in their systems as if they were intoxicated.

Eight states currently have such "zero tolerance" laws, while the rest require additional evidence of impairment, since the presence of metabolites does not necessarily indicate that someone is unfit to drive. Marijuana metabolites, for example, can be detected three or more days after a single dose and weeks after a period of regular use--long after any effect on driving...