The heartbroken cousin of a teen killed in a horrific crash now being blamed partly on driving while high is warning that legal weed in the Bay State will only bring more tragedy.
“This all could have been avoided. We’re still trying to heal and now we learn this. I’m almost speechless,” said Kelton Givens, whose cousin was one of four teens killed in East Bridgewater in May.
“Weed should not be legal. Massachusetts needs to take a look back and change the law,” said Givens, 24, who lives in Florida, where only medical marijuana is allowed. “Pot leads to heroin, cocaine, pills and meth.
“This is a major problem. Young men and women are driving under the influence and no one wins,” he added. “I lost a cousin. People are going to lose those they cherish, too.”
The driver of the car that crashed — 18-year-old Naiquan D. Hamilton of Stoughton — has been indicted for “driving recklessly and under the influence of marijuana,” Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced yesterday.
The teen faces four counts each of motor vehicle homicide by operating under the influence and motor vehicle homicide by reckless driving. He also faces four counts of motor vehicle manslaughter.
Hamilton, who was 17 at the time of the crash, lost control of the car and slammed into a tree just after 4 p.m. on Route 106, the DA said.
All four passengers died. They were: Christopher Desir, 17, of Brockton; Eryck Sablah, 17, of Stoughton; Nicholas Joyce, 16, of Stoughton; and David Bell, 17, also of Stoughton.
Givens said his cousin, Bell, “could light up a room.” He said the extended family held a basketball tournament in his honor this summer at a gathering in Florida.
“This indictment should be a lesson for others,” said Givens, who recently graduated from college. “The more we can prevent this the better our world will be. We need stricter laws, and have them enforced, for driving while high.”
Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan told the Herald yesterday the Cannabis Control Commission and the state police chiefs association are “strategizing best practices” for when weed is sold legally.
“We’re training up police officers to be drug recognition experts,” Ryan said. “This will be a challenge for law enforcement.”
But the veteran chief said winning in court would be nice, but getting stoned drivers off the road is a priority.
“Successful prosecution is one thing; removing impaired drivers is another,” he said.
The state police are reviewing a spit swab test to help catch stoned drivers. But that test — or any other one — has yet to be adopted with legal pot shops due to open soon.
In Washington state, fatal crashes for drivers who tested positive for pot have shot up by more than 100 percent — from 13 fatal crashes a year to 27 — after recreational weed sales started in 2014, Darrin Grondel, director of the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission told the Herald earlier this summer.
He stressed that edibles and drinks infused with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, are more potent and worrisome.
Credit: www.bostonherald.com
