The son of Ted "Buy Me A Drink...hey wait, where did Mary Jo
go?" Kennedy. Police sobriety testing laws do not apply to them.

The son of Ted "Buy Me A Drink...hey wait, where did Mary Jo
go?" Kennedy. Police sobriety testing laws do not apply to them.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,194329,00.html

Rep. Kennedy to Enter Rehab for Prescription Drug Addiction
Friday, May 05, 2006

WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Friday he is going to the
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to seek help for his addiction
to prescription drugs after he crashed his car near the Capitol.

The Rhode Island Democrat said he did not remember any part of
the incident, which occurred early Thursday morning.

"I simply do not remember getting out of bed, being pulled over
by the police, or being cited for three driving infractions,"
Kennedy said. "That's not how I want to live my life, and it's
not how I want to represent the people of Rhode Island.

"The reoccurrence of an addiction problem can be triggered by
things that happen in every day life such as taking the common
treatment for the stomach flu. That's not an excuse for what
happened Wednesday evening, but it is a reality of fighting a
chronic condition for which I'm taking full responsibility."

"I am deeply concerned about my reaction to the medication. ... I
know that I need help," Kennedy told reporters.

Kennedy said he has been open about his problems with drugs in
the past, and checked himself into the Mayo Clinic over Christmas
and again during the most recent recess.

"I struggle every day with this disease, as do millions of
Americans," Kennedy said.

He left the congressional press room without addressing
reporters' questions about the Thursday incident, in which the
congressman crashed his Ford Mustang into a concrete barrier on
Capitol Hill.

Although Kennedy earlier told reporters that he did not ask for
preferential treatment in how he was treated by the police, a
police union official said the congressman received special
treatment because of his position.

Kennedy has denied being under the influence of alcohol during
the incident and said he was taking prescriptions for nausea and
sleeplessness, including the sleep-aid drug, Ambien.

"I never asked for any preferential treatment," Kennedy told
reporters early Friday. Asked if he received any, he said:
"That's up for the police to decide, and I'm going to cooperate
fully with them."

According to a police report obtained by FOX News, an officer had
to swerve out of the way to avoid being hit at 2:47 a.m. Thursday
when a speeding green Ford Mustang with its lights off apparently
lost control and hit a curb. The officer began to follow the car,
which kept driving until it struck a construction barrier. The
driver turned out to be Kennedy.

The officer described the congressman's eyes as red and watery,
his speech was slightly slurred, and upon exiting the vehicle,
his balance was unsure.

Kennedy then said he was "headed to the Capitol to make a vote,"
the officer wrote. The last vote had been held six hours earlier.

Kennedy was cited with failure to keep in proper lane, driving at
an unreasonable speed, and failing to give full time and
attention to operation of a vehicle, according to the report.

Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the
Fraternal Order of Police, who was not on the scene, said the
officers who responded to the accident were instructed by an
official "above the rank of patrolman" to take Kennedy home and
no sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

The police report does not address those claims.

"Well, obviously, special consideration was given to him," Cannon
told FOX News on Friday. "I mean, it may be deemed by some people
to be preferential. I don't think, probably, you or I would have
got the same the same type of treatment. ... He was certainly
given some special consideration because of his position."

Cannon acknowledged, however, that there are special rules that
allow for special treatment of congressional representatives who
are on their way to a vote, which apparently was one of Kennedy's
claims.

Cannon also said that while he had heard from officers that
Kennedy has smelled of alcohol, he was not there, and had not
seen the official report yet. He said, however, that from other
visual signs Kennedy showed, officers could have followed up with
a number of field sobriety tests.

A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief
Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when
he left the vehicle. The letter was first reported by Roll Call,
a Capitol Hill newspaper.

A statement released Thursday by the Capitol Police says that in
addition to the accident investigation, the department was
"reviewing steps taken during the initial accident investigation
to ensure compliance with existing policies and procedures."

Kennedy said in a statement that the attending physician for
Congress on Tuesday had prescribed Phenergan to treat Kennedy for
gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
Kennedy said he later found out it could cause drowsiness.

Kennedy said that after working Wednesday evening, he went home
and took prescribed amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, which he
said the congressional doctor also had prescribed, and which he
takes occasionally.

"Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the
Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote. Apparently, I was
disoriented from the medication," Kennedy said in the statement.
He said he had the accident, and, "at no time before the incident
did I consume any alcohol."

The Boston Herald reported Friday that Kennedy had been seen at a
Capitol Hill restaurant and bar, Hawk and Dove, in the hours
before the collision.

"He was drinking a little bit," a hostess told the newspaper. The
Herald also said a bartender from a nearby establishment also saw
the congressman at Hawk and Dove.

A woman who answered the phone at the restaurant Friday said she
could not confirm the reports that the congressman had been seen
at the bar, but said there have been numerous press inquiries
about the incident.

"We're trying to open a restaurant here," she told FOXNews.com.

A Kennedy spokeswoman said the congressman has received the
official accident report from police at his Washington office and
that he and his aides are reviewing it.

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic years ago
before he went to Providence College. He has been open about
mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar
disorder. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is the congressman's
father.

The elder Kennedy canceled two public events Friday, one at a
Manhattan elementary school, and another at a book signing later
in the day. The senator has said he will not comment on the
incident.

"I love Patrick very much and am very proud of him," Sen. Kennedy
said in a statement Friday. "All of us in the family admire his
courage in speaking publicly about very personal issues and fully
support his decision to seek treatment. He has taken full
responsibility for events that occurred Wednesday evening, and he
will continue to cooperate fully in any investigation."

Sen. Kennedy also said he hopes his son's supporters in Rhode
Island "join me in feeling pride and respect for a courageous man
who has admitted to a problem and taken bold action to correct
it."



--
Ms. Libertarian - United States of America