STAPLES: BAC CLAIM WAS A JOKE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- State Sen. Danny Staples said Wednesday he and another senator were mostly joking when they made comments about the use of cough syrup that persuaded the Missouri Senate to raise the blood-alcohol level contained in a drunken-driving bill.

Meanwhile, local authorities who took the statements seriously including a chemist who heads the SEMO Regional Crime Lab at Southeast Missouri State University have called the matter into question.

On Tuesday, Staples, D-Eminence, persuaded senators to raise the blood-alcohol level contained in the bill from .08 percent to .10, the same as that used in Missouri for a presumption of driving while intoxicated. Staples had said that someone who uses cough syrup might register .08 without consuming an alcoholic beverage.

As an example, he mentioned Nyquil, a nighttime cold medicine made by Vicks. "Have you ever taken a shot of Nyquil?" asked Staples.

But Wednesday Staples said the comments were made "more in jest than anything else."

"I don't think there's anyone here who thinks you can get wiped out on cough syrup," Staples said from Jefferson City.

The amended bill Tuesday was placed on the Senate's informal calender, meaning it may be called up again. The bill would also reduce the state's current blood-alcohol level for administrative suspension or revocation of a driver's license. As well, Staples said the bill would restrict open alcohol containers in the driver's compartment of a vehicle.

Staples said he picked up on the cough-syrup topic and talked about it for a few minutes after it was first raised by Sen. John Scott, D-St. Louis. Scott had brought up the point that some of the decongestants people take are about 30 percent alcohol, he said.

"I'm not a doctor and I'm not a pathologist," said Staples. "I don't know what Nyquil does to you. I know it makes me sleepy."

Prior to the senator's statements on Wednesday, the crime lab director, Dr. Robert Briner, said he didn't believe a dose of cough syrup such as Nyquil would subject someone to DWI penaltes under the bill. Rather, he said, he'd be more worried about other ingredients in Nyquil that could slow motor responses, such as the medicine's antihistamine and cough suppressant.

"I wouldn't take it and then drive," said Briner. "I have taken it and then gone to bed."

According to the 1989 issue of the American Drug Index, the most recent available at the lab, Nyquil is 25 percent alcohol, Briner said. Along with its antihistamine and cough suppressant features, he said, it has the aspirin replacement more commonly known as Tylenol.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle also took Staple's comments seriously.

Also, in an interview prior to Staple's clarification, Swingle said the point about someone taking cough syrup and then being stopped for drunken driving was meaningless anyway. Under Missouri law, he said, driving while intoxicated means being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"So anybody who's foolish enough to belt down cough syrup and then drive doesn't have a defense as far as driving while intoxicated in Missouri," Swingle said. "So I don't understand where Sen. Staples is coming from."

Swingle said he supports changing the state's DWI level to .08 percent. He said it seems that any senators who would argue that it shouldn't be a crime to drink cough syrup up to a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent are more interested in creating a loophole for drunk drivers than protecting the public.

"So the whole Nyquil business is just a scare tactic by the people who are wanting to protect drunk drivers," he said.

Staples disagreed with Swingle's allegation.

"There's no one here who wants to create a loophole for drunk drivers, and that will be shown when we vote on the bill on it's third reading. It will probably pass 34 to nothing," he said, explaining he will vote for the bill.

Said Staples: "I support a strong DWI law. But as far as dropping the BAC content to .08, we don't need to do that. The laws that we have are working."

In December, Gov. John Ashcroft introduced a package to toughen the state's DWI laws. The proposal included lowering the blood-alcohol content for criminal convictions and administrative revocations from .13 to .08 percent; allowing an officer to take immediate possession of a license when a driver refuses to take an alcohol test; making municipal DWI convictions count toward license revocations; and making it illegal to drink and drive.

Swingle said he supported those goals.

(Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press.)