laws, lowering the amount of alcohol needed for a driver or boat operator to fail a breathalyser test.

Under the amendment, the limit will change from 100 to 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. Several Senators suggested that further restrictions may come in the future, and PLP Sen. Trevor Woolridge suggested an outright ban on alcohol might be desirable.

Youth and Sport Minister the Hon. Pamela Gordon (UBP) said most countries have already moved to lower levels and one day it might get to the stage where no alcohol is permitted for a driver.

The change was one of the recommendations of the Proposal for a National Drug Strategy, and reflected Government's seriousness.

Sen. Ira Philip (PLP) said his party "wholeheartedly'' supported the measure.

He noted Bermuda's high alcohol consumption, and said actions must be taken "to protect imbibers, and the public from them.'' In the end, however, education was going to be the key.

Sen. Woolridge said the UBP usually took "a couple of times'' to get things right, usually at the PLP's insistence: Legislation should come to empower the courts to get individuals convicted of drunk driving offences into treatment and education programmes.

Sen. Woolridge, who does not drink, said "a great majority'' of those attending the Parliamentarians annual Speaker's Dinner could be arrested for drunk driving.

"We may want to consider making alcohol illegal and thereby removing it from our shelves ...I certainly would have no objection to alcohol being made illegal.'' Asked by Government Senate Leader the Hon. Michael Winfield if that was the PLP's position, Sen. Woolridge replied: "That's a personal statement. It's my view.'' Sen. Norma Astwood (Ind.) said alcohol would probably never be allowed to be sold if it were a new item. As things stand now, she said, "it's critical that the level of alcohol found in the blood be reduced from where it is at present''.

She said alcohol affected a driver's judgment and comprehension, caused health problems, domestic violence and fetal alcohol syndrome.

Community service should be part of the punishment for those caught drunk driving, and Government should do what it could to reduce the use of alcohol generally.

Responding to Sen. Woolridge's complaint, Sen. Jerome Dill (UBP) said legislation already exists allowing courts to send a drunk driver to a treatment programme, and pointed to references to this legislation in the national drug strategy.

The interim committees of the National Drug Authority are looking at methods of encouraging and certifying such facilities, he said.

Opposition Senate Leader Sen. Alex Scott said there was no question of Opposition support for the measure, but feared it was "somewhat superficial.'' A comprehensive approach was needed, he said. The legislation tackled alcohol abuse by adults, but was being done about alcohol abuse in schools? He said the school curriculum should include the use of the road, and the misuse of alcohol.

Sen. Winfield said the legislation would have "a dramatic impact'' and make a substantial reduction in the amount of alcohol tolerated.

"The Ministry of Education has already been doing a great deal in terms of education in life skills, and this obviously includes the misuse of drugs and the misuse of alcohol...Programmes are in place, and more are coming into place now.'' Sen. Joe Johnson (Ind.) said he supported the legislation. "We need to move forward, and we need to move forward quickly,'' he said.

He supported driver education, and hoped that one day a driver's education course would be required before a driver's license was granted.

He agreed that the courts should make use of community service as a punishment, and should be given whatever powers are necessary to better utilise community service.

Senate President the Hon. Albert Jackson said he was heartened by the support the bill received. Impaired driving was but one of the ills that came from abuse of alcohol.

Perhaps too much had been done to make alcohol available for sale. He was not advocating the recall of liquor licenses but urged caution in issuing more licenses.