Persuasive Essay On Drinking And Driving

In today’s society, we focus heavily on drinking and driving, but what about the latter? What about smoking marijuana and driving? With many states legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, it is more apparent that driving while high is undoubtedly an issue. However, more times than not it goes undiscussed, and it is therefore thought to be not as dangerous, and more socially acceptable than drinking and driving. Glenn Davis, who is the highway safety manager at the Department of Transportation in Colorado (where recreational marijuana use became legal on Jan. 1) said “We’ve done phone surveys, and we’re hearing that a lot of people think D.U.I. laws don’t apply to marijuana, and there’s always somebody who says, ‘I drive better while high.’” (Koerth-baker, Maggie). This survey in itself contributes to the fact that many think it is more acceptable to drive high than to drive drunk, however the statistics do not back up that claim. In 2014, The State Patrol in Colorado also reported that troopers issued 5,546 citations for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Of those, 674 — about 12.2 percent — involved suspected marijuana use (Ingold, John).This shows that one can be just as noticeably impaired while under the influence of marijuana as driving while

Looking for slurred words, red eyes etc. testing includes "one leg stand" here the operator has to balance on one leg while counting. Another test is the walk and turn. Here the operator has to take 9 steps heel to toe counting each step and at 9 must turn and walk back heel to toe 9 steps. HGN-horizontal gaze nystagmus is when the officer checks the eyes. We hold a pen or finger up and the operator must follow it with his eyes as you move it back and forth. We are trained to notice lack of smooth pursuit (they can't follow it smoothly, the eye jerks) and the nystagmus which occurs when holding at angle” ( Melanson,