Buckdog

Data from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health published in 2006 found 3,892 deaths attributable to alcohol in Canada. If a disease like Swine Flu killed that many people, we'd be going off the deep end in Canada.

The problem with our existing liquor control laws is that we are still loosing hundreds of innocent people a year on our roadways to drinking and driving.

Unfortuantely, alcoholism is such that a group of people who drive are under the influence of alcohol at all times. They are high tolerance drinkers who do not slur their words and who otherwise seem under control. These are the people who potentially can be taken off the road with the new measures.

It is unfortunate that our existing laws do not allow identification of this type of drinker. The ongoing slaughter on our highways, unfortunately, leaves us little choice as a society but to up the ante. 'Unfortunate' is the appropriate word here, because efforts needed to control the irresponsible actions by individuals who drink and drive potentially infringe on my rights and freedoms.

I used to be a cigarette smoker many years ago when there were few anti-smoking regulations. I smoked on airplanes, in movie theaters and in my place of work. I didn't care what the non-smokers thought ... smoking was my right as an individual. As the years went by, our society decided that the health risks and deaths of non-smokers required restrictions on 'individuals' like me who demanded my 'rights'.

As a progressive lefty, I acknowledge that from time to time the greater good of the community outweighs my individual demands. Same with drinking and driving. The drinkers won't stop driving so we all potentially need to pay the price to enforce 'control' upon them so that innocent people stop dying at their hands.

"Although Canada has very stringent drinking and driving laws and sanctions, more than 750 vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists were killed annually from 2003 to 2005 in crashes where a driver had been drinking. This number is by necessity a conservative estimate because in certain cases it's unknown whether the driver was drinking. Some traffic safety organizations estimate that the number of victims is considerably higher. The precise figure may be in question, but there is no question in anyone's mind that alcohol use by drivers causes many unnecessary deaths and injuries."
Transport Canada