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DUI Law – What is the difference between a DUI and a DWI?

What is the difference between a DUI and a DWI?

Don't worry, I have never been arrested or have a record, I'm just curious because I've heard both these acronyms used.
One friend of mine says that a DUI is driving under alcohol intoxication while DWI is driving under the influence of drugs. But another friend of mine says it doesn't matter, they're both the same. I'm confused.

Perhaps you read a story this week about the Georgia State Legislature considering a bill that would outlaw the implantation of microchips into the bodies of state residents and thought, "Well that's probably the oddest story about state governments that I'll read all week." If so, you probably haven't been paying attention to recent goings-on in Arizona.

On Monday, the Arizona House approved a measure that would force President Obama to show his birth certificate if he hopes to be on the state's ballot should he decide to run for reelection in 2012. Critics have slammed the bill, which cleared the Republican-controlled state legislature by a 31-22 vote, as a "birther bill." And the Arizona Republic has indeed reported that the idea for the legislation "originated from a fringe group that believes President Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States."

Not surprisingly, national Democrats have slammed the measure. White House spokesman Bill Burton stressed that the ongoing furor over the president's citizenship concerns "a question that has been answered exhaustively." He added, "I can't imagine Arizona voters think their tax dollars are well served by a legislature that is less focused on their lives than in fringe right-wing radio conspiracy theories." One Democratic Arizona lawmaker, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, lamented that its passage has made her state "the laughing stock of the nation."

The birth-certificate vote comes on the heels of the Arizona legislature's recent approval of the harshest state immigration bill in the country. The controversial measure essentially forces people whom law enforcement officials might deem a potential illegal immigrant, even on a casual visual impression, to carry proof of citizenship at all times. Immigration advocates have forcefully denounced the bill; Cardinal Roger Mahony, leader of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, compared it to "German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques."

Politics in the Grand Canyon state have been tilting rightward in recent months — with the immigration issue supplying a good deal of the momentum. Late last month, a popular southern Arizona rancher named Robert Krentz was murdered, and while authorities haven't detained any suspect in the case, conservative activists have pinned the blame on illegal immigrants. Former GOP Congressman J.D. Hayworth is mounting a primary challenge to incumbent GOP Sen. John McCain, using McCain's past support of immigration reform as a wedge issue. As Hayworth has continued gaining in the polls, McCain's campaign has tacked steadily to the right — and after a long silence on the state legislature's immigration measure, McCain appeared to embrace it this week, calling it "an important step forward." Hayworth dismissed the comment in short order as  "political gamesmanship."

No word on whether or not McCain supports the birth-certificate bill, though he has assailed Hayworth in the past for his ties to the "birther" movement. Jan Brewer, the state's Republican governor, hasn't yet declared whether she intends to sign the immigration measure into law, or what her stand would be on the birth-certificate bill, if it, too, ends up on her desk. She's far from the only state GOP official proceeding with caution as the state's GOP establishment veers rightward. After all, she already has 19 registered challengers lined up to run against her in her own August primary.

— Brett Michael Dykes is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.

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