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How is the New Blood Alcohol Law Going to Affect Our Group?
by Bill Friday
(2000 - From the THC Club Non-Newsletter)
I have been a little depressed about it. Studies I have seen have stated that the people who cause the most serious accidents have had blood alcohol levels much higher than 0.10. I agree that at one should not be driving near that figure. But I don't agree it should be lowered for automatic punishment. Watch for increased roadblocks in the future.
The funny thing about it all is that in Indiana you could already be convicted of drunk driving with blood alcohol levels between 0.05 and 0.099. It is not well known, because prosecutors in order to convict must prove that alcohol was a factor in whatever you were doing to be stopped and/or charged. I realize that this is not as easy as it is stated. It is much easier to have a law stating you are drunk with a lower blood alcohol level than 0.10.
Note: it is not Indiana State Law until it is passed by both Indiana Houses and signed by the Governor. All the Federal Law does is state that Indiana will lose some federal highway funding if the 0.08 Blood Alcohol is enacted by 2004. Until that occurs, the 0.10 is still in effect. I am assuming that it will enacted sometime in the near future. It may save a few lives, but what it will really do is increase the number of DWI's, line the pockets of lawyers, and the fill the coffers of the courts. People with extremely high blood alcohol levels will still kill people. I always thought better enforcement of the present laws, higher penalties on repeat offenders, better treatment programs for alcohol addicts, and more education would be a better options.
What it will mean to our group in the future when it is passed into Indiana law is simply that people will have to drink less at our meetings if they are driving. I plan to order smaller tasting glasses to encourage this. I have always suggested that we share rides to meetings. I hope more people will get together in the future. We will also need to be more vigilant at our meetings. We should be able to give someone a ride or hire a cab if it is necessary. It will have to be a group thing - not the responsibility of one individual. If people don't like it, well then they don't have to be a member of our group. We cannot have an incident occur after one of our meetings. It is not fair to our hosts, to me, and to you as well.
One idea I had was to hire a driver and a van for the evening of our meeting dedicated to picking up and dropping off members. It would cost, but it would be nice to be able to drink without worrying. It is dreaming for sure, but it is just one idea.
