Survey: One in 7 of state's nighttime drivers under the influence of drugs 

By Susan Abram, Staff Writer

Sometimes, they come through DUI checkpoints smoking a joint. 

"They'll say, I've got a medical card," said Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy Sgt. Philip Brooks, of the drivers who get stopped. 

"And we'll say, that doesn't matter. Smoke that at home and don't drive." 

While they don't all come through checkpoints smoking marijuana, an increased number of motorists are getting caught driving drugged. It's happening at DUI checkpoints on curved roads through Malibu's canyons and it's happening across the state. 

"Half of those caught are impaired due to drugs," said Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Station. 

"It's hard to say, but the biggest problem right now is medical marijuana," he added. "People seem to think it's a legal substance."

A teacher in the Inland Empire emailed me that quite a few of his failing students tell him that smoking dope is good for them, because: "It's medicine."

In general, sophisticated libertarian concepts (such as, oh, "Just because the government legalizes it doesn't mean you should do it") don't work that well for minors with 2 digit IQs and heads full of THC.