THE FRONT PAGES of national newspapers in recent days tell of a high-tech escalation in the war between drunken drivers and safe roads.

Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal looked at an alarming new way for idiots to mess themselves up with the world’s all-time favorite drug. For those who find the digestive system an unacceptable barrier to drunkenness, there is now AWOL, or alcohol without liquid. It is a device that vaporizes liquor, sending the alcohol straight to the brain.

Whether this leads to more or less drunkenness is debatable, but states that are banning the devices are probably making a smart move.

Meanwhile, against alcohol ingested the old way, most states (but not South Carolina) have a promising countermeasure. Forty-five states and the District of Columbia allow the use of breath-test interlock devices that prevent drunks from starting their cars.

In New Mexico, as The New York Times reported Monday, those convicted even once of DUI have to have the interlocks on their cars. The state saw an 11.3 percent drop in alcohol-related deaths last year.

It’s past time to try that in South Carolina.