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Drug-driving law set to be introduced in UK

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    Drug-driving law set to be introduced in UK

    Offenders could face a jail term and fine of up to £5,000 as well as an automatic driving ban of at least 12 months.

    Police will carry a hand-held drug detection devices, which will take a saliva sample, as well as a breathalyser to test erratic drivers.

    The Home Office is expected to approve the devices by the end of this year.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17975502
    About time!

    What annoys me is BBC Presenters forming questions like " What if someone has taken "Recreational drugs" days before?)

    They are Not "Recreational drugs", they are, under the laws of this country "Illegal Drugs" and if they are still showing traces in a persons system, then that person should still be subject to the full force of the law.

    Drugs are destroying this country, 70% of crime in the UK is drug related, including shoplifting and burglary by addicts to feed their habits, and I think the UK should bring in the same penalties as Thailand for drug possesion and drug dealing.
    Confusion is a natural state of being

    #2
    Originally posted by Diver View Post
    What annoys me is BBC Presenters forming questions like " What if someone has taken "Recreational drugs" days before?)
    Well, it's going to ruin their weekends isn't it.

    100% of crime is committed by people who should know better. You can blame it on drugs but you can equally well blame it on food or mobile phones. There are lots of people who have a bit of a smoke or take mushrooms or even a bit of coke and don't go out marauding. They certainly shouldn't be allowed to drive cars while under the influence any more than a drunk person should but it seems a bit draconian to prevent them enjoying their chosen poison in their own home.
    While you're waiting, read the free novel we sent you. It's a Spanish story about a guy named 'Manual.'

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      #3
      Regardless of the arguments about drugs, is it really right that somebody should be banned from driving because they smoked a joint 2 days earlier? That's a much much harsher penalty than simple posession of cannabis would ever carry.
      Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

      Comment


        #4
        Liked the no-nonsense approach of the mother whose daughter was killed by a cannabis user.

        "these drugs are illegal. If you're found with them in your blood you should be banned"

        BBC presenter: "but what if they haven't used them in weeks?"

        Mother: "then don't drive".

        He didn't have an answer to that one.
        "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
        - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

        Comment


          #5
          As a child of the '90s (well a student then anyway) i have a somewhat different perspective to Diver: We took shed-loads of drugs all the time. I smoked dope every day for years and partied as much as possible. Pills and Thrills all around. We didn't see ourselves as being inherently evil. Ironically we looked down on the pissed-up townies with considerable disdain: Alcohol ruins lives and makes you an aggressive asshole etc etc.

          Amongst my druggy-scum friends a fair few went on to achive good things: Doctors, lawyers, partners in Big 4 consultancies, minister of fisheries (not in the UK), millionaire businessmen, contractors on 6 figure incomes etc. Admittedly there are some who underachieved and might have gone on to earn more if they had smoked less dope, but across any sample of 20 people you will have good, bad and wastrels.
          Saying "all drugs are bad" is facile and unhelpful to the understanding of the complexites of the arguments. I would contend that these lives could all have been ruined far more by a criminal conviction for smoking a spliff rather than the harm from the drug itself. I have been in many parts of the world where you are suddenly not an "evil criminal drug user" for smoking a spliff. It is purely a regional legislative perspective, largely based on historial inertia and continued pandering to US influence - it was they who forced the drug laws on much of the rest of the world- rather than an objective rating of the harm of the activity.

          Much of the harm of drug use is associated with its illegality. Witness the efficiency of Prohibition in creating a criminal gangster class, and crimninalising large parts of the populace.. same with illegal drugs. Heroin never ever featured in my experience. I knew distantly of smack-heads, but they didn't inhabit the same space as us normal, middle-class kids just having fun while we're young.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Mupps View Post
            Saying "all drugs are bad" is facile and unhelpful to the understanding of the complexites of the arguments.
            That's irrelevant. If they are not bad, then legalise them. While they are illegal, the laws should be enforced.

            However testing motorists simply as a way to find drug users does not seem right to me. Testing drivers to see if drugs are affecting their safety on the road is fine. Banning someone from driving because you can see they have at some point done something illegal is bad... like banning them if you can detect they have drunk alcohol in the last week on the basis "they might have been tempted to drive while drunk".
            Originally posted by MaryPoppins
            I'd still not breastfeed a nazi
            Originally posted by vetran
            Urine is quite nourishing

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Mupps View Post
              Much of the harm of drug use is associated with its illegality.
              Current laws make the supply lucrative business for criminals and it is perfectly clear to me that most of the harm that is caused could be reduced by stopping making it lucrative business for criminals.

              Whatever I think about that, driving under the influence should not be tolerated!

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Mupps View Post
                As a child of the '90s (well a student then anyway) i have a somewhat different perspective to Diver: We took shed-loads of drugs all the time. I smoked dope every day for years and partied as much as possible. Pills and Thrills all around. We didn't see ourselves as being inherently evil. Ironically we looked down on the pissed-up townies with considerable disdain: Alcohol ruins lives and makes you an aggressive asshole etc etc.

                Amongst my druggy-scum friends a fair few went on to achive good things: Doctors, lawyers, partners in Big 4 consultancies, minister of fisheries (not in the UK), millionaire businessmen, contractors on 6 figure incomes etc. Admittedly there are some who underachieved and might have gone on to earn more if they had smoked less dope, but across any sample of 20 people you will have good, bad and wastrels.
                Saying "all drugs are bad" is facile and unhelpful to the understanding of the complexites of the arguments. I would contend that these lives could all have been ruined far more by a criminal conviction for smoking a spliff rather than the harm from the drug itself. I have been in many parts of the world where you are suddenly not an "evil criminal drug user" for smoking a spliff. It is purely a regional legislative perspective, largely based on historial inertia and continued pandering to US influence - it was they who forced the drug laws on much of the rest of the world- rather than an objective rating of the harm of the activity.

                Much of the harm of drug use is associated with its illegality. Witness the efficiency of Prohibition in creating a criminal gangster class, and crimninalising large parts of the populace.. same with illegal drugs. Heroin never ever featured in my experience. I knew distantly of smack-heads, but they didn't inhabit the same space as us normal, middle-class kids just having fun while we're young.
                Irrelevant and you're in the wrong thread.

                We talking driving whilst taking mind-altering drugs.

                I don't care what you to do to yourself. I do care what you do to other people.
                "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
                - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Gonzo View Post
                  Whatever I think about that, driving under the influence should not be tolerated!
                  But how do you define "under the influence"? There's a set limit for the amount of alcohol you can have in your blood and drive legally, but I haven't seen anything similar mentioned here. They seem to be saying even the slightest trace of an illegal substance means an automatic ban, whether it's enough to affect you're driving or not. And that's okay because drugs are bad, and more importantly, illegal.
                  Will work inside IR35. Or for food.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I'm so sorry

                    I didn't realise that;

                    The heroin, meth and crack addicted teenagers who take up prostitution and thieving to fund their drug habits were a benefit to us all.

                    That the young girls and boys found dead daily from drug overdoses were of such little concern

                    That the crack and heroin addicted screaming babies born daily were a good thing.

                    That innocents mowed down by drug addled drivers was acceptable and that they should not be punished.

                    That drug money used to fund terrorist activities, people smuggling and other crimes helped the economy.

                    I truly believe that those who use drugs and alcohol must really have a pathetic life or be completely spineless to need a chemically induced escape from reality

                    Those that do support the free use of drugs and make pathetic ill thought out statements like " If you legalised it, there wouldn't be all this crime" Doh! My brain hurts
                    There will still be addicts, the drugs will not be free, they will still need money to buy the drugs, they will still steal and go into prostitution to fund thier habits, the will still be crack and heroin addicted babies borne, there will still be drug related deaths, there will still be a massive burden on the public purse that We are paying for.

                    Only sensible well thought out responses please, not the usual idiotic rhetoric of the drug addled idiots, like "it's personal choice" etc. because some people should be supervised as they are far too stupid to make wise choices like Don't drink and drive or drive while drugged up .
                    Last edited by Diver; 7 May 2012, 09:25.
                    Confusion is a natural state of being

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