Simple equation

If you are high on anything—other than joyful life—do not get in a car.

In the Friday Colfax Daily Bulletin, a headline read ‘Traffic infraction+drugs=arrest.’ In less than half a year of reading the arrest reports of people thrown in jail or charged in Superior Court, I have lost track of the number of cases that boil down to that equation.

The redundancy is getting a little dull and boring.

So why both reporting on such cases?

Two reasons: one is the simple fact my job is to write about 5,000 characters of news four days a week for the Bulletin. With all large events and sports canceled and the mood generally being one of avoid going into offices if you can, I am relying heavily on public records and such for news. Superior Court cases and the Whitman County Jail log are a couple of the reliable sources for news. Ironically, during the early days of the shut down, even those were dry for new happenings. Once things started to open back up, people started to commit crimes and get arrested again. When there is other news that can quickly be accessed in the few morning hours I have to get the Bulletin printed and online, I prefer to use it. Court filings aren’t always great, but they are reliable and so few things are these days.

The second reason for printing the articles that are the same formula, just with different names and factors, is the hope that someone will finally get it. Math is hard; repetition is an excellent teacher. I still struggle when it comes to figuring out percentages because I don’t do it enough or regularly. I truly feel one of the roles of newspapers is to educate the public. Maybe, just maybe, someone will see the same equation enough and a light will click on.

“We have recently partaken of substances that give us a high and impair us. How about we go for a drive now?”

“While that does sound like an excellent idea, I believe you’re blinker fluid is out. If a police person sees that, we’re going to get busted. You can’t get anything past those guys! It’s like, I dunno, they’ve trained to see the signs and deal with narcotic use and the signs of it on a regular basis.”

“Huh. You do make an compelling argument. As I don’t fancy being incarcerated or have extra funds for bail money, then I shall set my keys down and go watch TV.”

Well, maybe not quite like that. But if the fear of getting pulled over for whatever minor defect your car has or any wrong turn you make keeps one more person from getting behind the wheel while inebriated, that is a win for society. Whitman County already has suicidal deer, roads that weave like a snake with cramps and reckless college drivers to worry about. If this story is finally the one to make someone decide against driving while intoxicated, that is a win for everyone.

I understand that drug addiction is a very real and powerful demon and there are those that can’t just break free. When you are arrested for drug possession, consider getting the help needed to break away. Many are given that opportunity and can access programs to help them. If you just can’t break the addiction or just don’t want to, then, please, don’t drive. There are far worse consequences than getting arrested for people who drive while intoxicated. Even with everything shut down, I’m never so desperate for news I want to write about a DUI collision that ended in fatality.

Jana Mathia,

Gazette Editor