Drug addiction developed in formative years is a relevant mitigating factor in sentencing, but voluntary intoxication at the time of offending is not mitigatory. The distinction between addiction as a background circumstance affecting moral culpability and intoxication at the time of offending is critical. Ramming a police vehicle with a stolen car while fleeing police is a serious example of the aggravated offence of intentionally exposing an emergency worker to risk by driving, warranting prominence of general deterrence, punishment and denunciation.
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