The many Montanans who are convinced they should have the right to drink and drive have been well represented in the Legislature in recent years.

Despite a determined push by groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and significant federal highway funding incentives to toughen the state's laws, it's still OK to drive down a Montana roadway while sipping a brewski.

That's likely to change during the 2005 session, but not without a drawn-out fight and a new wrinkle or two.

One new wrinkle is the concept of a "walk-home" law. Rep. Rick Maedje, R-Fortine, well known in Helena for his successful efforts in 2003 to strike down much of Helena's second-hand smoking ordinance, has asked for draft legislation giving slightly drunk drivers the option of walking home (and later get some alcohol counseling) rather than getting a DUI citation.

The idea apparently is to avoid putting folks through the inconvenience of that messy old court system, spending a night in that icky old jail, and having to pay a nasty old fine just for risking a little vehicular homicide.

This kind of distraction makes little sense — as the Highway Patrol points out, it also is illegal for intoxicated people to walk along Montana's highways — but such will be the smoke blowing around the issue in the Capitol next year.

The bald fact is that Montana continually ranks at or near the top of the nation in the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths suffered per 100,000 miles driven in the state. Montana's culture of drinking and driving is a wild-west throwback that must come to an end. Let's hope lawmakers put the issue to bed for good this session.