Ray Stern with the Phoenix New Times writes that Arizona has "arguably" the severest DUI laws in the nation. Yet, at the same time, it looks like alcohol-related driving deaths in Arizona went up last year. The news comes from a report out of the latest Arizona Department of Transportation Crash Facts report.
Drug-related DUI crashes are up too, apparently, but it's not because of marijuana, as one might expect, given the recent turn across the nation toward legalizing marijuana. Stern quotes a representative of the Arizona Governor's Highway Safety Office: "The most horrible [accidents] are mixed," Alberto Gutier says, referring to drivers who are under the influence of two or more drugs, usually opiates.
Gutier mentions Fentalyl, which is said to be 50 times more potent than morphine, at least according to Stern. Gutier thinks it might be the repeat DUI offenders to blame for the increase in DUI-related fatalities, though it's just his guess. If you get more than two DUIs in Arizona, you're generally looking at felony charges.