Republican legislator Kip Smith of Georgia, a strong supporter of drug testing for welfare recipients, was arrested late last week for driving under the influence.

 

According to local police, Smith's blood-alcohol level was .091. The state's legal limit is .08. One of the officers who arrested him said that Smith “seemed to be having a difficult time understanding what I was trying to explain to him,” and that he failed the “walk-and-turn” “one-leg-stand” tests.

 

Smith is a sponsor of House Bill 464, which would require anyone applying for or already on welfare to submit to drug testing. In response to this bill, Democratic legislator Scott Holcomb has introduced another bill that would require drug testing of public officials, including Smith, because, like welfare recipients, they receive state funding.

-David Wallechinsky, Noel Brinkerhoff

 

State Rep. Kip Smith Charged with DUI in Buckhead (by Christopher Seward, Atlanta Constitution-Journal)