SANTA CRUZ, Calif.- When it comes to drinking and driving, you know the law.
But what about not being allowed to drive even when you're sober? The California Highway Patrol arrested two people for burglarizing several cars in Watsonville and Capitola this weekend.
But one of the suspects is facing a charge of driving as an addict.
The vehicle code reads, "It is unlawful for any person who is addicted to the use of any drug to drive a vehicle."
Central Coast News asked the obvious question, how does an officer know whether the person is an addict if they aren't high when they pull them over?
"We are trained in how to observe whether someone is addicted to the substance or not. With a substance such as heroin it is very rare that a person uses heroin recreationally without being addicted...In circumstances like that we would see the actual withdrawl sypmtoms on the driver," said officer Sarah Jackson.
Last year the CHP said 45% of its arrests were because people were driving under the influence, that includes those officers also classified as addicts.
CHP officers arrested seven people specifically for driving while addicted who weren't under the influence at the time.
There is one way an addict can avoid arrest, "If somebody can show the officer enrollment paperwork that they are in a treatment program or doctor's paperwork that they're under the treatment of a doctor for this addiction then they won't be arrested," said Jackson.
Last year half of the traffic deaths in Santa Cruz County were drug/DUI related.
@
@
