Guam lawmakers are considering a bill that would eliminate the voluntary intoxication defense in criminal acts.
According to Vice Speaker Tony Ada, author of Bill 138, if someone is intoxicated when they commit a crime, the current law limits their culpability to “recklessness.”
Ada said recklessness ranks above negligence, but is not as severe as extreme or depraved indifference to human life, or premeditation and malice aforethought.
“This bill makes a bold statement: You get yourself drunk or high, you're fully responsible for the crime that you commit in your intoxicated state,” Ada said during a hearing on the bill Thursday. “It seems that not a day goes by where a person gets arrested and blames alcohol or meth for their crimes. Enough is enough. If you drink or do drugs, take responsibility for your actions.”
The bill would not affect people who become intoxicated without their knowledge or against their will. Ada said no state has eliminated the involuntary intoxication defense.
The bill specifies that intoxication attributed to addiction or substance use disorder is not considered involuntary.
“If you’re addicted, get help, get treatment, get better,” Ada said. “We have services available to help you. No one should be excused from bad conduct because they consumed too much beer, smoked meth or took fentanyl."
