Political Officer Arrested For DUI - This Time It's A Republican

Last month a former California political party chairman was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.  It was the former California GOP chairman.  Though we caution you that no party has the monopoly on substance abuse.  The story is here. 

 A driver tends to stand out while motoring down the freeway at 3:20 in the morning.  When the driver starts weaving, he is sure to attract the attention of the California Highway Patrol,  And that is exactly what happened.  Worse, the driver smelled of alcohol, spoke with blurred speech, and failed a field sobriety test. 

Fortunately the former GOP chairman was not involved in an accident.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports the following:

In 2010, 10,228 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.

Of the 1,210 traffic deaths among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2010, 211 (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.

Of the 211 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2010, over half (131) were riding in the vehicle with the alcohol-impaired driver.

In 2010, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.3 That's one percent of the 112 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.

Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are often used in combination with alcohol.

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Local Florida Politician Has Bad Week

Photo by Julica da Costa

The vice mayor of Maitland, Florida, Phil Bonus, had a bad week earlier this month. First it was announced that his name appeared on the client list of a suspected brothel. Then the local news media got hold of a police video showing his arrest for drunk driving. The story from WFTV is here.

The video, from Bonus’ arrest in December, shows him struggling to complete a field sobriety test.

Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways. It can affect the way your brain works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.

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Can you be “Almost” An Alcoholic?

Over at the Huffington Post there is an excellent article by clinical psychologist Joseph Nowinski. Nowinski describes our tendency to categorize drinkers as being either alcoholics or “the rest of us” – that is, non-alcoholics. After all, can a woman be “almost” pregnant? But Nowinksi shows that society’s understanding of drinking behavior is inaccurate.

You most likely know that alcohol is an addictive substance. Over the course of time, drinking may lead to physical dependence. So the truth about drinking Nowinski writes, is that that drinking behavior may generally fall into four categories. There are non-problem social drinkers; drinkers tending to be almost alcoholic; alcohol abusers; and finally, alcoholics. But Nowinski stresses that there are infinite degrees of differences between each category.

Being “almost alcoholic” may result in adverse affects, such as poor sleep and the resulting loss of energy and vitality. There are several other effects of which you should be aware. So I definitely recommend that you read Nowinski’s article if you want to get a handle on understanding drinking behavior and the consequences.

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Oklahoma GOP Wants You Piss-Tested

You probably know that several states are passing laws that require welfare recipients to be tested for drugs. Those states include Utah, Florida, Arizona, and Missouri. The funny thing is that politicians don’t mind ordering citizens without power and means to subject to drug tests, but they exempt themselves. The latest example is in Oklahoma. In the military I was taught leadership by example. That does not seem to exist among our elected representatives.

The idea behind welfare drug testing is apparently that those on welfare should not be spending taxpayer dollars on illegal drugs. Welfare recipients should be spending state money on essential items like food and housing.

I have a few questions. Who will do the drug tests? Who will pay for them? Will this also be more taxpayer money spent? Did drug testing companies lobby politicians to get these bills passed? Will this be more government regulations, more government employees to keep track of the testing, to monitor the testing, to watch people pee in a bottle, to inspect the drug testing facilities, etc?

If you ask me, it seems like many times it is the politicians who act like they are on drugs and need to be piss-tested.



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City Council Member In Alabama Pleads Guilty to Drug Charges

On December 3rd, police from Tuscaloosa, Alabama went to an apartment in search of a possible witness to a murder. At the apartment they found two men who allowed them inside. Although the police found no witness, they did find crack cocaine and crack pipes in plain view. The two men were arrested. One turned out to be Kip Tyner, the 56-year-old City Council member. The story of the arrest is here and here.

As part of his plea, Tyner will apparently enter a court-monitored counseling program. Details about the requirements of the program are reported here.

Crack cocaine is a highly addictive and powerful stimulant that is derived from powdered cocaine. Crack emerged as a drug of abuse in the mid-1980s. It is abused because it produces an immediate high and because it is easy and inexpensive to produce.

Cocaine, in any form, is powerfully addictive. But addiction develops more quickly when the drug is smoked in crack form as opposed to being snorted – though snorting cocaine is addictive, too.

Cocaine use causes constricted blood vessels; increased temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure; and risk of cardiac arrest and seizure. Crack users may also experience acute respiratory problems, such as coughing, shortness of breath, and lung trauma and bleeding. Crack cocaine smoking also can cause aggressive and paranoid behavior.



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Top FAA Official, Randy Babbitt, Steps Down Following DWI Arrest

It didn’t take long for the Federal Aviation Administration to take down the web page of its Administrator - well, former Administrator - Randy Babbitt.

Babbitt was arrested on December 5, 2011 after he drove on the wrong side of the road. The story is here.

Babbitt , a former pilot, was the top aviation safety official in the United States. He quickly resigned so as not to bring further discredit to the FAA.

Babbitt is not the driver in the video below, however it does depict unsafe driving.



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Utah Mayor DUI

Ever hear of Helper, Utah? Neither had we. Helper has a population of a couple thousand people and is located in central Utah. Oh, the Mayor of Helper, Dean Armstrong, was recently arrested for DUI.

The story is here and here.

The arrest occurred at 1:00 in the afternoon after Armstrong was seen making a rolling stop at a stop sign. He was pulled over and performed unsatisfactorily at a field sobriety test. His blood alcohol level was also alleged to be at an unlawful level.



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