DUID Victim Network
There were two great publications out this month!
First, the Colorado Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) released Driving Under the Influence of Drugs and Alcohol. This comprehensive report makes the following facts perfectly clear:
May 26th we posted a critique of the Congressional lobbying effort of the Cannabis Industry Association. Since then, we have worked with Responsibility.org to get the message to Congress that they are being lied to by the marijuana lobby. July 31stour letter went to every member of Congress in the House and the Senate.
Cosigners on our letter were:
Neither is safe but statistics tell us that stoned driving is safer than drunk driving. Marijuana-impaired driving is of particular concern not just because of its inherent danger, but because of its increasing prevalence and a common but falsely-held belief that stoned driving is not dangerous. Marijuana-impaired driving is less deadly than drunk driving, just as a .22 caliber bullet is less deadly than a .45 caliber bullet. But all four can and do kill.… READ MORE
Two weeks after the marijuana lobby descended on Congress, Senators Cory Gardner and Elizabeth Warren announced legislation that would prevent Federal officials from enforcing the nation’s drug laws. Senator Cory Gardner has abandoned his integrity and common sense to support the emerging marijuana industry instead of his constituents. The bill he and Senator Elizabeth Warren are sponsoring is based upon two false statements Gardner has given to his constituents:
Colorado’s HB18-1258 that would have permitted marijuana “tasting rooms” passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor HIckenlooper. The Governor cited concerns with increased impaired driving as a reason for his veto.
We wrote the Governor requesting that he veto the bill, pointing out that marijuana tasting rooms were fundamentally more dangerous than a neighborhood bar. If an impaired driver leaves a bar and is arrested by an officer for impaired driving, Colorado laws ensure … READ MORE
This week the Cannabis Industry Association (CIA) presented its report to Congress extolling marijuana’s tax and employment benefits, its use to combat the opioid crisis, the industry need for access to banking services, and putting its own spin on some of the problems caused by marijuana: crime, use by minors, and highway safety. One page was devoted to marijuana-impaired driving. We leave it to others to critique the bulk of the report. We will summarize below only … READ MORE
Colorado’s Republican Representative Polly Lawrence and Democratic Representative Jonathan Singer sponsored a request to the State’s Legislative Council to form in interim study committee to consider new evidence on DUID, and to determine if that evidence demonstrated a need for legislation in the 2019 regular legislative session.
They garnered the support of an additional 33 Representatives from both parties to augment their request. That’s a total of 35 of the 65 Representatives in the State.… READ MORE
Drugged driving creates victims, regardless of the cause: opioids, methamphetamine, marijuana, polydrug use, or many others. So we’re pleased to support the initiative of SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana) sponsorship of a petition to Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chou, the National Governors Association and the National Council of State Legislatures. The petition requests increased support for both public education on the dangers of DUID, as well as more tools for law enforcement to prevent drugged … READ MORE
Like most sensible people, I try to avoid Washington DC. But NHTSA’s Call to Action meeting on March 15, 2018 compelled me to succumb with a surprising result. The meeting was called by Heidi King, NHTSA’s new Deputy Administrator (NHTSA does not yet have an Administrator) to begin a national dialogue on how to combat drug-impaired driving. I had the opportunity to meet Ms. King and Candace Lightner of We Save Lives for dinner … READ MORE
Drugged driving is a complex problem that invites simplistic solutions like, “Why doesn’t ‘science’ determine an impairment level for each drug so we can deal with them like we do alcohol?” We’ve long believed that solving our drugged driving problem requires a number of separate initiatives to deal with the various aspects of the problem. See, for example, our “Principles of DUID Victim Voices” tab on this website.
Recently we’ve partnered with We Save Lives … READ MORE