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A Tragedy
of Large Proportion
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Alcohol-related traffic deaths that make news can often be
overlooked. Perhaps we are numb in some sense to senseless DUIs. But a
screaming headline in Indianapolis is worth noting: IMPD Cop Drank Before
Crash. A city police officer was reported to be two times the legal limit
allowed for blood alcohol content at 11:20 am on a Friday - while on duty and
while responding to an emergency run.
No one knew the officer was intoxicated, including the
officers investigating the fatal crash.
Officer David Bisard is now charged with seven felony
drunken-driving charges. One person was killed in the recent accident and two
others were critically injured. Family members of victims were notified by the
prosecutor that the officer's blood alcohol content was .19, or twice the legal
limit of .08.
We point this out as our lead item in our newsletter this
week for a number of reasons.
People who are affected by alcohol often cannot judge their
own addictions and impairment. Those around them often enable and ignore or "hope"
what they think might be alcohol abuse - isn't.
As Indiana debates its future on alcohol controls and
availability, let's be realistic. Alcohol is a controlled substance and a
regulated product. Alcohol needs to sold with strict controls. Those serving
and selling alcohol need to do so under laws fair to those who drink alcohol
and those who don't.
According to Dr. Timothy Kelly with Fairbanks Addiction
Treatment Center, a person who is 150 pounds would have to down 10 drinks to
reach the .19 level. But he also said a person with a chronic problem would be
less likely to show the effects of intoxication.
Understandably,
the community is also angry.
More than
300 comments were posted under two Indianapolis Star articles in recent days;
one reviewing a public rally on Monument Circle with more than 300
motorcyclists attending and another pointing out that Bisard had received
commendations four years in a row as a Noblesville police officer from MADD for
his vigilance on arresting drunken drivers.
What causes a veteran police office to be under the
influence on a Friday morning while working needs to be a case study in our
community.
None of the families of
victims in this tragedy, as well as the police officer and his family, will ever
be the same.
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Project RAD Wants Your Opinion
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Next week, Project RAD will be posting a short survey for
our readers to get your feedback on this newsletter. We've provided our readers
with a variety of updates since last fall and are well past our 30th
issue (not including our special alerts). Please take a moment of your time to
respond. The survey will take the place of our regular issue.
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New State
Coalition Holds Legislative Forum
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Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of Indiana (CADCIN) is
holding a legislative forum Thursday, August 26, in Indianapolis at the Ruth
Lilly Health Education Center, 2055 N. Senate Ave.
State legislators are invited to join the forum beginning at
1:00 p.m. to discuss:
- Increasing the alcohol tax
- Sunday alcohol sales
- K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana)
CADCIN's website is not yet up, but please call Drug Free
Marion County offices if you would like more information about the meeting
317-254-2815.
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Latest
Gallup Poll on Drinking Habits: We're Drinking More
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According to the latest national
Gallup Poll, 67 percent of U.S. adults drink alcohol, a slight increase over
last year and the highest reading recorded since 1985 by one percentage point.
Beer remains the favorite beverage among drinkers, followed by wine and then
liquor. For the full update from Gallup, click
here. |
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Colleges: "Ineffective"
on Alcohol Education Strategies
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College administrators aren't trying hard enough to reduce heavy
drinking by students, at least not with the community-based strategies the
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommended
in 2002, according to a new study described by USA
Today.
The study - "Implementation of NIAAA College Drinking Task Force Recommendations: How Are Colleges Doing 6 Years Later?" -
showed that 98 percent of colleges were conducting
educational programs on drinking but only 33 percent were monitoring illegal
sales and just 15 percent were limiting retail outlets.
The study was based on a survey of administrators at 351
four-year colleges.
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