To reduce DUI and other incidents of harm related to compulsive substance misuse, it’s best to advocate for policies that actually work. The April 24 editorial (“In Our View: Tighter DUI law will keep roads safer”) cited a bunch of statistics about how roads are safer, but no proof that a tighter DUI law would directly reduce accidents where the driver is impaired.
Treating compulsive substance misuse as a moral failing has never been shown to work. It seems a Thurston County prosecutor has come to a similar conclusion (“Man’s 8th DUI arrest among Washington’s most extreme cases of chronic drunken driving,” April 21, The Seattle Times). Yes, let’s get impaired drivers off the road, but let’s also enter the modern era and stop “treating” people with ineffective and potentially harmful approaches like Alcoholics Anonymous or other 12-step group religious indoctrination.
There’s more than 30 methods found to be more effective and safer. Let’s have some science here, as well as getting impaired drivers off the road.
