Lawmakers on the Accommodate Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing last week on the risks of drug-impaired driving.
There is growing concern in Congress over the culmination as data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and the Institution for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility finds that accidents from sedated driving have been on the rise over the last 10 years.
A up to date report showed that 44 percent of fatally injured drivers check up oned positive for drugs in 2016. That number is up from 2006, when precisely 28-percent of fatally injured drivers were drug-positive.
But lawmakers also impelled for more information about the problem.
While the trend appears to be alarming, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) cheer up questions the statistics from the GHSA and the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Task.
“While this statistic, of course, raises concern, I have questions and be germane ti about the methodology and accuracy of this statement,” Schakowsky said.
She peaked out that there is no nationally accepted way of testing the drug impairment lay waste of drivers.
“Alcohol continues to cause more deaths than pharmaceuticals,” Schakowsky said.
Colleen Sheehy-Church, the President of Mothers Against Souse Driving (MADD), who testified at the hearing, agreed.
“The truth is that we do not be sure how many people are killed each year due to drug-impaired driving,” pronounced Sheehy-Church, whose son was killed by a driver who was under the influence of both hard stuff and drugs.
MADD, founded in 1980, advocates against drunk move. The group says focusing on that problem will also purloin reduce drug-impaired driving.
Lawmakers and experts also debated the force of marijuana legalization on the issue. Recreational marijuana is now legal in nine situations.
“With the prevalence of marijuana legalization — recreation and medicinal — it is critical that myriad work be done to understand impairment,” Sheehy-Church.
“We agree with the fresh AAA [American Automobile Association] study, which states, a .08 [blood demon rum content] equivalent may not be possible with marijuana. But we still must more advisedly understand how marijuana impairment influences driving behaviors,” she added.
Republican Reps. Larry Bucshon (Ind.) and Leonard Lancet (N.J.) both spoke out against marijuana legalization in their home states during the understanding.
“I personally oppose [legalization] based on medical grounds,” said Bucshon, a old surgeon.
Dr. Robert DuPont, president of the Institute for Behavior and Health, renounced lawmakers suggestions to help prevent drug-impaired driving.
DuPont recommended that declares implement a zero-tolerance policy for drivers under the age of 21, hand down the uniform penalties for drugged driving as for drunk driving and impose additional punishments for those who are impaired by multiple substances.
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