DRINKING-DRIVING-CELL PHONES & MARIJUANA

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THE CHICAGO GOSSIP

Story By: Kathy Posner
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Chicago Marijuana

Of the reported crashes in 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 32% were in some way related to alcohol. The National Highway Safety Council put that number at 10,228 people who died in a vehicular accident because at least one of the parties behind the wheel felt that satisfying his urge for potent potables was more important than being alive. The Center for Disease Control puts the number of alcoholic liver deaths at 14,406 and the number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides, comes to 23,199. Those categories total 47,833 deaths in one year that were caused in some way by imbibing spirits. But is the National Transportation Safety Board recommending a return to prohibition? No. They are calling for a national ban on cell phone use while driving.

If the NTSB is calling for a cell phone ban, a person could assume that cell phone usage while driving produces more deaths than alcohol does. However, the NTSB puts that figure at approximately 3,000 deaths.


Ray LaHood, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, has made it clear that he hates distracted driving. I wonder why he doesn’t hate alcohol as much when vehicular deaths in that category are so much higher? Maybe he has nobody to call, but likes his wine. (I realize this is an unwarranted low-blow against Secretary LaHood, but it was a good line and I wanted to use it!)




REAL VS. FAKE




On November 7th, I wrote a blog about how politicians in Cook County and Chicago want to lower the penalties for smoking marijuana. Some have even called for totally halting arrests for low level possession. These guys don’t think pot is any big deal.


Yet, these same politicians lauded that the sale of synthetic marijuana recently became illegal in Chicago. They were thrilled to announce that a State of Illinois law will make it a felony to sell or possess fake pot takes effect on January 1, 2012.


Understand what this means—a person commits a felony if they have fake marijuana on them, but won’t get arrested for the real stuff. I swear I am not making this up. Were the politicians high on something when they made these diametrically opposed decisions?



I AM AN ADDICT




Hi, my name is Kathy and I am a food-a-holic. I also am addicted to Diet Coke (I tried giving up Diet Coke when my friend John Rosales left the Coca Cola corporation, but I could not stop) and cigarettes. It is important for me to reveal this because if I ever get convicted of a federal crime, I can shave time off my sentence by entering a rehabilitation program. Since a person has to have a proven history of substance abuse within a year of her arrest, it was important for me to get this on the record, “just in case.”


Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is playing the “addiction card” to get his 14 year prison sentence reduced, and amazingly, Judge James Zagel is buying what Blago is selling. The Judge is recommending a prison rehab program for the disgraced former governor, even though there has been no indication of abuse problems in the past.


Insiders claim that Blago now drinks himself to sleep. Well, who wouldn’t after such a conviction and sentence?


Still, the real question is … How will he get along without his cell phone in prison? We all know he liked to make a lot of phone calls. In fact, recordings of those calls are what did him in.

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