Tony Stewart involved in fatal sprint car incident

[J.A.W.]

Hunt also snorted cocaine. So What.
They give USAF pilots amphetamines and they function just fine.

Yeah right! (True - such stimulants have long been used as performance enhancers by the military, but not sans risk).

& wasn't the James Hunt-type playboy F1 era played out in a cloud of cocaine/flood of champers - as SOP?

Cannabis use as a performance enhancing, or aggression promoting substance though? Don't think so..

Many sporting ( inc' motorsport) codes now insist on drug testing competitors, & for unlawful, as well as PE type use..

[MOWOG]

Moldanado, Sutil and Gutierrez could all use a dose or two of performance inducing drugs.

[strad]

Cannabis use as a performance enhancing, or aggression promoting substance though? Don't think so..

You misunderstand.. I would never imply pot invokes aggression.. Tales of the hashashin aside.
The are actually very few risks with sparing use of amphetamines.
.
And the about Hunt was that is didn't hurt his performance very much.
.
Actually I have voiced my opinion that many F1 drivers use Adderall or one of the drugs like it.
.
While I don't endorse general random use of drugs, I can see their clinical use.

[J.A.W.]

Strad, your points are fair enough, so - does F1/NASACAR/Moto GP (& etc top level stuff), submit to WADA ?

Or does Bernie et al insist on their guys being above such an intrusive & odious testing regime..

[strad]

I think the FIA has random drug testing, in the form of urinalysis, which in sports and many industries is telegraphed and the subjects can do what they call flushing.
Having been a correctional officer I can tell you that any urinalysis that is done other than first thing out of bed can be beat.

[Hobbs04]

...They should have checked Tonys blood. Im sure he did as well

They performed a drug recognition evaluation (DRE) which proved he was not impaired. Most likely something that would take upwards of an hour. It includes Field sobriety tests, several clinical indicators such as pulse, blood pressure, and eye examinations. With great certainty I'm sure if they had a slight whiff of any drug impairment I'm sure they would gladly of violated Mr. Stewarts constitutional rights and taken his blood.

For those who don't know of the DRE program in the USA it's the same exams done on people who show up in Emergency rooms because of an overdose. If someone has overdosed on heroin it's probably not a good idea to give morphine for example.

[J.A.W.]

Well, good to know that the US stands by its fundamental "probable cause" onus as per constitutional protections..
Whereas..
..In other parts of the world..
.. ( inc' where I am) - you can be about your business on the public thoroughfare..
..& yet subject to a Govt agencies 'random' stop order & being compelled..
..(with sanction equivalent to a proved offence - automatically applied on failure to submit)..
.. to provide various bodily specimens for multi-drug testing.. ..& absolutely no predisposing factors to meet 1st..

[Moxie]

Moxie:
I have been known to blow my top and over react without having touch pot or alcohol.
Sometimes people just get pissed off.

Sure, but we are talking about investigators trying to understand a tragic event and are doing so by piecing together the available evidence. The drug test results are a part of that evidence. Prosecutors and the grand jury must make a determination whether or not to proceed with charges against Stewart: charges which by themselves can be devastating to a person in many ways.

Evidence that Stewart intended to hit Ward:
History of being a hot head

Evidence that Stewart was not responsible for the fatal strike:
Ward was running on an active racetrack toward Stewart
Ward was high

The grand jury will likely do the same for all pieces of evidence before making their decision.

Of course the drug test is part of the picture, how much weight it carries depends upon each juror.