Easter Long Weekend - Don't Drink and Drive - Keep our Alberta Streets Safe!

The Easter long weekend is right around the corner and Alberta has made some changes to the province's impaired driving laws.

Remember not to Drink and Drive there are alternatives to getting home. Plan ahead have a designated driver, call a taxi, take public transit or call a friend!

Our province’s new impaired driving law will help to reduce the number of drinking drivers on our roads – and that means fewer deaths and serious injuries. Drivers who are criminally impaired or refuse to provide a breath sample will receive the harshest penalties. And, these drivers will still be charged with a criminal offence. Tougher consequences at the .05 to .08 level are designed to discourage drinking and driving – before drivers reach the criminally impaired level. Our goal is to create safer roads by ensuring that Albertans take responsibility for their actions behind the wheel. Alberta's impaired driving law is about one thing: keeping families safe. We're strengthening our approach. Responsible Albertans can have a drink with dinner or friends. Repeat offenders will be targeted. So will Criminal Code offences and new drivers. Not included — fines and demerit points offenses. The focus is on changing behaviours through mandatory courses and ignition interlock. Education and enforcement are key Key Changes Use this chart to understand changes to the law. Drivers with blood alcohol over .08 Previously Alberta had license suspensions, but not vehicle seizures for drivers above .08. Under the new law Immediate license suspensions are sustained until the criminal charge is resolved. Mandatory ignition interlock is installed after criminal conviction (over .08) 1st offence Sustained licence suspension 3-day vehicle seizure 1-year mandatory ignition interlock 2nd offence Sustained licence suspension 7-day vehicle seizure 3-year mandatory ignition interlock. 3rd offence Sustained licence suspension 7-day vehicle seizure 5-year mandatory ignition interlock Drivers with blood alcohol between .05 & .08 Under the new law Increasing sanctions against drivers suspected to be impaired are included in the new law. These drivers are not and will not be subject to Criminal Code prosecutions. 1st offence 3-day licence suspension 3-day vehicle seizure 2nd offence 15-day licence suspension 7-day vehicle seizure "Planning Ahead" course 3rd offence 30-day licence suspension 7-day vehicle seizure "Impact" course New drivers Under the new law Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL)still begins at age 14. All GDL drivers are already subject to zero tolerance for blood alcohol and receive a 30-day suspension. GDL drivers found with blood alcohol 30-day licence suspension 7-day vehicle seizure Plan Ahead Be Safe You have alternatives! Plan for them ahead of time and keep Alberta safe.

Fatal Drug Overdoses in US increase for the 11th consecutive year

Fatal drug overdoses have increased for the 11th consecutive year in the United States, new data show.

According to a research letter published Tuesday from the National Center for Health Statistics, 38,329 people died of drug overdoses in the United States in 2010, an uptick from the previous year and the latest sign of a deadly trend involving prescription painkillers.

In 2010, 57% of overdoses, or more than 22,000, involved known prescription drugs. Three-quarters of those involved painkillers like Oxycontin and Percocet while another 9,400 involved some unidentified drug cocktail.

More than 74% of all prescription drug deaths were accidental, statistics show. Only 17% of overdoses were suicides. The numbers show how drugs in the opioid family, like Oxycontin, methadone and codeine, were often implicated in fatal drug cocktails.

An opioid was found in 77% of overdoses that involved benzodiazepine, a central nervous system depressant likeValium, Xanax or Ativan. The addictive narcotic was also involved in 65% of overdoses with antiepileptic or anti-Parkinsonian drugs; 57% of overdoses with antidepressants; and 56% of overdoses with anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing drugs.

The paper buttresses a Times investigation last year that showed a surge in painkiller prescriptions in California and across the nation has had fatal consequences.

Fatal prescription drug overdoses over the last decade have outnumbered deaths from heroin and cocaine combined, The Times reported. In nearly half of all accidental prescription drug deaths in Southern California, the deceased had a prescription for at least one of the drugs involved in the overdose.

The study was published in the American Medical Assn. journal and was written by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the study.

Content from: http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-drug-overdoses-increase-20130219,0,1564869.story