Saturday, January 22, 2011

What Are The Odds Of This?

A car crash in Garden City, Idaho that killed three in November--and not just one driver was legally intoxicated, but both drivers.  From the January 22, 2011 Idaho Statesman:

Police said right away they believed alcohol and/or drugs were a factor because Willhide was seen drinking alcohol and smoking pot at a party shortly before his vehicle veered into the path of Taylor’s car on Chinden Boulevard.

But toxicology tests show that both drivers were legally drunk — and both had marijuana in their systems, Ada County Coroner Erwin Sonnenberg said Friday.

“(Willhide) was well over two times the legal limit,” Sonnenberg said. “(Taylor) was just under two times the legal limit.”
Many Boise area residents would answer the question, "What are the odds of that?", with "In Garden City, 100%."  (Garden City has a reputation locally as a place of ne'er-do-wells because it is where nearly all the mobile home parks and decrepit trailers are located.)  To hear some advocates of marijuana tell the tale, if pot were legal, we would have less drinking.  Incidents like this, and watching a few relatives and acquaintances destroy everything of value in their lives, suggest to me that if pot were legal, we would have more people getting intoxicated with two drugs instead of one--not people switching from alcohol to pot.

1 comment:

  1. Clayton,

    Just found your blog again after losing it for a while.

    Nice to be back.

    I really enjoy your writing.

    ReplyDelete