Public intox laws should be tailored

Nearly every college student counts (or has counted) down the days until their 21st birthday. It's a magical age when you can finally go out with your friends without worrying that you're breaking the law. You can sit with friends at a bar and have a beer, or seven. You can do all the things you're supposed to do as a college student.\nBut what students and bar-goers across the state might not know is that going out on a Friday night and having some drinks could turn normally law-abiding students into lawbreakers. \nThe Indiana law on public intoxication states it is unlawful for a person to "be in a public place, or place of public resort in a state of intoxication." Another section of the code makes it illegal to ride a bus or other forms of public transportation while intoxicated. Thus, anyone trying to get home from the bars after drinking is a lawbreaker. It doesn't matter these people are trying to behave responsibly by not driving. They are still guilty of public intoxication and as such can be cited, taken to jail or a "treatment facility" at the \ndiscretion of the arresting officer.\nCertainly such a law has practical applications. People who are heavily intoxicated can sometimes be a disturbance. They can be belligerent, disorderly or a danger to themselves or others. \nBut where is the limit? Certainly a person who is legally intoxicated, a blood alcohol content of .08, is not fit to drive. But such a person would still be capable of walking home or taking the bus responsibly, especially when one considers that, until 2001, a person with a blood alcohol content of .10 was considered legal to drive. Even if he did stumble along the way, such a person is much less likely to cause serious harm to himself or others than if he gets behind the wheel.\nThe public intoxication law is an important one to have on the books, but the language is in need of change. If bar-goers feel they could be cited for walking home after a few drinks, they might resort to driving themselves home in an attempt to avoid police. They prefer to put their licenses and lives on the line to avoid being stopped for public intoxication. \nAs Paula Gordon, director of IU Student Legal Services said, "the driving while intoxicated statutes are very specific. The public intoxication statutes are fairly subjective." A law designed to help increase public safety can, when not clearly tailored, cause bar-goers to make poor choices in hopes of avoiding arrest.\nThe solution is to more narrowly tailor the public intoxication laws. Those who are intoxicated should not be stopped or cited unless they pose a nuisance or are at risk of becoming a danger to themselves or others. The law should also require a blood alcohol content .08 or higher. This is the legal limit below which we find a person capable of driving and the law should be extended to their walk home or wait at the bus stop.