Submitted by Cedric Hughes on Mon, 12/20/2004 - 05:07
On Monday November 1st, 2004 the federal government, the level of government that enacts the criminal law in Canada retabled a bill that gives police the power to make drivers submit to drug testing. Under the proposed new legislation, police with reasonable grounds to suspect a driver has been smoking marijuana may demand that the motorist provide a blood, urine or saliva test. Refusal could result in a criminal charge. Test results, along with results of roadside sobriety tests and officer observations of impairment indicators such as red eyes and the smell of drugs could become evidence for the prosecution.
British Columbia is the leading province in Canada for marijuana use, according to the national Canadian Addiction Survey released in late November 2004. Consistent with this trend, British Columbian leads in the use of other drugs such as cocaine, speed, ecstasy, hallucinogens and inhalants. Statistics also show that drug use—drugs include marijuana and other illicit substances as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications—is a factor in motor vehicle fatalities across Canada. The pattern, established by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation or TIRF, is that roughly one half of all drivers who are killed test positive for alcohol, and of these, 10 to 20 percent also test positive for drugs.
Drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs can be charged under the Criminal Code of Canada. At present, for impairing substances other than alcohol, there is no specification for the level of drug that must be found in the blood before a driver is considered to be impaired in law. This is because of the interesting legal dilemma that Parliament cannot define a legal limit for something that it is illegal to use or possess in the first place. And if this isn’t enough of a problem, another obstacle to establishing marijuana related impairment, is the finding by scientists that THC, the active ingredient, dissipates quickly making it difficult to pinpoint the exact level in a driver during the time a vehicle was operated.
The recent decision by the Provincial Court in Surrey in the highly publicized case of a youth whose two 16-year-old passengers were killed when he lost control while driving 100 to 140 km/hr illustrates the problem. Blood samples taken from the young driver two hours after the crash showed he had a high level of THC, but, due to conflicting expert testimony, the judge was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was impaired by marijuana. Although the youth was convicted of dangerous driving causing death, he was acquitted of driving under the influence of a drug.
The legislation for gathering evidence, mentioned at the beginning of this article, suggests that an increasingly significant number of accidents are now being caused by undetected drug use. Maintaining road safety in a society that appears to be turning more and more to drugs, is likely to be an ever increasing challenge.
Please drive safely.
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