Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jan 2003
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2003, Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Tobi Cohen, Ottawa Sun

WIN SPARKS LEGAL DEBATE

Studies On Toking And Driving Needed: Lobbyist

POT activist Rick Reimer's courtroom victory to toke and drive might not be 
binding, but those on both sides of the debate call his win an impetus for 
change.

The lower court ruling, which found there wasn't enough evidence to convict 
Reimer of impaired driving, serves as a wake-up call that more research and 
new laws are needed -- especially as the federal government debates 
decriminalizing the drug.

The former Ottawa Valley lawyer and multiple sclerosis sufferer who has a 
medical exemption to smoke marijuana was stopped by police last February 
after he was seen swerving over the centre line of Hwy. 58 near Killaloe.

While Staff Sgt. Marc Pinault of the Ottawa Police drug squad doesn't think 
Reimer's case will open the floodgates for people who want to toke and 
drive, it does highlight the problems that police and courts face in trying 
to prosecute such individuals.

SERIOUS OFFENCE

"No doubt there's people out there always reaching out for things. They 
might see something like this and will use it to whatever advantage, but 
impaired driving by drugs is no less serious than impairment by alcohol," 
he said.

"The threshold for finding people guilty of impaired driving is very, very 
technical."

Raynald Marchand of the Canada Safety Council agreed with Judge Bruce 
McPhee that more research is necessary. However, he also suggested 
situations such as Reimer's might be better handled under the Highway 
Traffic Act.

Patients prescribed drugs that could interfere with their ability to drive 
have long been reported to the ministry of transportation by their own 
physicians and Marchand thinks the same could be done for drivers with 
marijuana exemptions.

Under the Highway Traffic Act, such people can be subjected to a test and 
can have their licences suspended or revoked.

Marijuana champion Mike Foster said he likes to "take our victories in the 
marijuana movement one little hurrah at a time."

The owner of the Bank St. hemp shop Crosstown Traffic said the Reimer case 
really highlights the need for a national study on the effects of pot on 
driving.

"I think it shows we're actually taking it seriously and that we're 
actually going to look at these issues. It's a lot better than it was 10 
years ago when I first opened my store and politicians wouldn't even talk 
about cannabis."

In the absence of breathalyzer-like technology, director Neev Tapiero of 
the organization Cannabis As Living Medicine thinks a standard field 
sobriety test is a good starting point to detect marijuana impairment.

"If you can't pass a field sobriety test for whatever reason, regardless of 
whether it's cannabis, prescriptions or alcohol, you shouldn't be driving," 
he said.
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