County attorney tracking rates of driving while impaired

Moves to legalize recreational use of marijuana are contributing to nationwide increases in the number of motorists who drive while high, Calhoun County Attorney Tina Meth Farrington said earlier this month.
In 2007, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration surveys, 8.6 percent of drivers stopped had marijuana in their system. In 2014, that rate rose to 12.6 percent of motorists, Farrington said.
The increasing presence of legal marijuana has contributed to a slight increase in law enforcement personnel finding drivers carrying the drug into Iowa, often originating in Colorado.
In the past year, Calhoun County recorded one arrest for manufacturing drugs, two arrests for unlawful possession of prescription drugs, five arrests for driving while intoxicated by drugs, six arrests for possession of marijuana and five arrests for possession of methamphetamines, Farrington said.
Read more in the Oct. 17 edition.