Standard a step in the right direction

Alcohol is many things.\nIt allows one to relieve stress. It lowers inhibitions. It makes for a generally good time.\nBut one could hardly say that it does wonders for one's judgement.\nThink of all the things you've let slip from your tongue that you shouldn't have. Think of the people you've embarrassingly hit on. Or maybe hooked up with. Think of the friendships you've jeopardized. Just think.\nThe case can be made that there's nothing wrong with knocking back a few beers in a social setting. And, the case can be made that there's nothing wrong with knocking back a few shots, reveling in that tart burn in your throat.\nNothing wrong per se.\nBut when you get behind the wheel, it's a different story.\nIn 1999 alone, 15,786 people lost their lives from alcohol-related accidents, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.\nYou don't need a license for a firearm, but you need one for a car -- there's a good reason for that. Although only a Class A misdemeanor, drunk driving is the nation's most frequently committed violent crime.\nIt's not merely a matter of putting yourself at risk, a casual choice that's made like smoking. Innocent pedestrians and drivers are likewise endangered.\nPresident Bill Clinton signed to law legislation that sets a national standard for drunk driving, asserting that the new legal limit of 0.08 percent will save as many as 500 lives a year.\nNineteen states and the District of Columbia have a 0.08 percent limit, whereas 31 define drunk driving with an 0.10 limit. Some people will tell you that this is inconvenient.\nInconvenient maybe. Inconvenient if you consider 500 lives to be expendable on an annual basis. MADD and the alcohol and hospitality industries dispute how much alcohol has to be consumed for 0.08 blood-alcohol content.\nThe American Beverage Institute will tell you a 120-pound woman who has a couple of glasses of wine will be put in jail, but MADD contends a 137-pound woman would need to have three drinks in an hour to reach 0.08.\nBut either way, the American Medical Association said 0.03 is too drunk to be driving. In both their cases, their respective examples should not be driving. No one should drive if doing so endangers the safety of others. Lowering the limit to 0.08 is but a small step in the right direction. \nMaybe you can't have that third drink in an hour before slipping behind the wheel. Too bad. Maybe you'll save lives and stay out of jail.