Regular readers here know that I've long been involved with Lifering Secular Recovery, and much of that time, semi-active to active in participation on email groups and Lifering social media, attending a few annual conventions and more.
Sadly, on one email list, discussion about a person having to go to jail for a DUI last fall veered into a ditch earlier this month. I am not naming any names, but I am laying out the bare parameters, because I think they need to be laid out.
Said person is getting three days in jail.
Several people have talked about how cruel this is. One person said that "way back," they didn't get jail in California. (She didn't respond when I said, in one of my emails on the thread, that I didn't know how long "way back" was, but that I suspected California had changed since then.)
One person, beyond the "how cruel," went into this was the same type of barbarism in America as not having national health care, etc., and that America was basically "draconian" or something like that.
And, that (although I totally agree on national health care) went over the line.
First, as I said about setting aside BAC levels, let's NOT set aside BAC levels, and let's note that in most advanced countries, the blood alcohol level that leaves you open to arrest is no higher than 0.05 percent, not the 0.08 percent of the US. We can talk about the sadness of the US not having better public transport, but we can also mention that beyond buses and taxis, ride sharing services do exist.
Now, as for the the reality of criminal sentencing?
You can do time a-plenty elsewhere in the world, including three weeks of "hard labor" in Norway and a full year in jail in Sweden and Finland.
Remember, these are countries that liberal and, to some degree, leftist America, inside sobriety world and outside, like to tout.
Beyond that, IMO, is a psychological misconception, and that is that addicts, whether to alcohol or drugs, respond only to carrots.
Really? Carrots may be the primary tool in STAYING sober LONG TERM, but sticks have a definite role to play in GETTING sober and in STAYING sober in the SHORT(ER) TERM, as I see it.
Finally, a lot more people drive drunk than drive pot-high, even with the growth in legalized recreational marijuana.
And, that's the other reason to note that neither the US nor other advanced countries are "draconian." Sticks as well as carrots have a part to play, IMO, in reducing DUI in general, not just among people who may be addicted.
As someone who was a fucking idiot once, even with the tie-in of family psychology reasons related to my dumb decision, I don't know if jail time beyond an overnight would have done anything. It might have. OTOH, it might have increased my "I don't give a fuck" at the time.
But, it would have lessened excuses, if nothing else.
And, for repeat offenders, you know what? The bottom line is that if they're in jail, they're not driving.
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Update, June 3: They're at it again. So, I'm staying away from the email lists for a while.
