Senate Bill 289's Zero Tolerance Won't Keep Californians Safe From Impaired Drivers

Senator Lou Correa, (D) Santa Ana, introduced Senate Bill (SB) 289, a measure that would establish a zero tolerance policy for driving under the influence of drugs. Problem is, that is not what SB 289 would accomplish. SB 289 would not keep the public any safer than current laws, but would create thousands of criminals. Under SB 289, California would make it illegal for a person to drive a vehicle if his or her blood contains any detectable amount of Schedule I, II, III, or IV drugs.

The bill goes way beyond the intent of DUI legislation. Currently, it is illegal to drive while impaired by any substance, including alcohol, prescription and/or illegal drugs. The bill, showcased as a get tough on drugs and driving campaign, spearheaded by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is another radical piece of legislation that doesn't address the problem of impaired driving. What the bill does is criminalize taking your prescription.

The problem with SB 289 is it criminalizes having any detectable amount of a drug in your system, even if it does not impair your driving. Unfortunately, many drugs remain detectable in your system long after they have been taken and long after they have any impairment effect. Case in point - Marihuana. Marihuana can be detected for up to 30 days (sometimes longer depending on the person) after it has been smoked. While it may still be detectable, it surely doesn't have any impairment effect on the body a day, much less 30 days later. The same goes for many prescription drugs such as Xanax, Vicodin, codeine cough syrup, Tylenol with codeine, etc. The bill would even criminalize medications which don't have impairment effects such as testosterone, and certain heart medications that are listed as Schedule III drugs, just to name a few. The list of what could land you in jail goes on and on, many having no impairment effects.

In addition, Schedule V drugs, allegedly not covered in the bill, would also become criminalized. Schedule V drugs include cough preparations with less than 200 milligrams of codeine such as Robitussin AC. Also drugs such as Lomotil, Motefen, Lyrica, Parepectolin, would fall under the ban because these drugs can still be detected by a blood test 15 to 25 days after use with no way to discern if the codeine or other compound came from a Schedule IV drug (illegal under the proposed law) or a Schedule V drug (not illegal under the proposed law.) Alcohol and prescription drugs cannot be treated with the "one size fits all" model.

Unlike many prescription drugs, alcohol is metabolized quickly and is generally undetectable within 12 to 24 hours. Just like prescription drugs, the effects of alcohol on impairment dissipate even faster, usually within 2-3 hours, depending on the number of drinks. Would Senator Correa still advocate SB 289 if alcohol was detectable in the system 30 days later? Would it make the public any safer if after having a glass of wine with dinner you could not drive for a month? Another flaw with SB 289 is how does someone know when the drug has fully metabolized and is no longer detectable in their system? What happens if a drug metabolizes completely for 95 percent of the population in 25 days, but for the other 5 percent it might be 26 to 35 days. Does everyone have to wait 35 days before driving just to be safe from arrest?

Furthermore, SB 289 would in effect, permanently ban people taking certain daily prescriptions from ever driving again. Drugs like testosterone replacement, or estrogen replacement, drugs taken on a daily basis, would render the person taking these drugs unable to drive -- EVER -- even though they do not impair driving.

If this bill passes, what does it actually mean? Anyone taking medications that can be detected in the blood, would in the eyes of the law, be a criminal, subject to prosecution, whether or not they were impaired by the mediation. SB 289 is a dangerous, radical approach that will not keep the public safe, but will turn thousands of unimpaired drivers into criminals.

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