UK ‘Drug-Driving’ Law Ignores Far Deadlier Legal Drugs

The United Kingdom government will soon be advised by an expert panel on introducing a new offense of ‘drug-driving’.

Maximum levels for different drugs will be considered for those driving while under the influence of illegal drugs, very similar to laws already put in place concerning alcohol consumption and driving.

The panel aims to conclude which specific amount of cocaine, cannabis, heroin, or other drugs constitutes an offense. As revealed in The Independent, it is expected that the panel begin focusing on these regulations this spring.

UK Government Puts Focus on the Wrong Kind of Drugs

With pharmaceutical drug usage skyrocketing (along with the subsequent death rates), there is no doubt that the UK government is misplacing their focus. Driving while under the influence can certainly be an issue, but it is not comparable to millions of people being dosed up on harmful pharmaceuticals. With the issues of pharmaceuticals bypassing government officials, the UK will surely mirror the US by encouraging a pill-popping frenzy.

More Americans died in 2008 from pharmaceutical painkiller overdose than fatalities from illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin combined. Responsible for nearly 15,000 deaths in 2008, prescription painkillers have become wildly popular. The news comes after a previous report found drugs to outnumber traffic accidents in fatalities.

In 2009, drugs exceeded the amount of traffic-related deaths, killing at least 37,485 people nationwide. According to information provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the very pharmaceuticals that are prescribed to treat life-endangering conditions are now ending lives.

Is There Really a Difference Between Legal and Illegal Drugs?

There is a new ‘war on drugs’ in this day and age. Everybody knows the dangers and risks of illegal drugs, as well as addiction and fatal injury, but it may be surprising for some to discover that some of the most dangerous drugs are not those that are already illegal, but the legally prescribed pharmaceuticals being perpetuated on a daily basis.

Prescription drugs such as painkillers are killing more people than top illegal substances like cocaine and heroin combined while sales numbers soar — as well as unnecessary painkiller use. In addition, other dangerous drugs like antipsychotics are handed out like candy, but some are even introduced without testing, or even use perverted study results in an attempt to convey the false image of legitimacy.

More time should be spent taking care of the major problem of pharmaceutical drug use rather than focusing on legal action concerning drug-driving. After all, pharmaceutical drugs kill more individuals than traffic fatalities overall. Meanwhile, cannabis presents a number of health-promoting effects that have gone unrecognized by the U.S. federal government and many nations across the globe.

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