Pubdate: Wed, 12 Feb 2003
Source: Victoria News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Victoria News
Contact:  http://www.vicnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267
Author: Mark Browne
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

ISLAND POLICE TRAINED TO SPOT DRIVERS CRUISING ON POT

People who think they have less chance of being caught for impaired driving 
after smoking a joint may want to think twice, says Victoria police Const. 
Bill Roberts.

Roberts was one of eight B.C. instructors who visited Toronto this month to 
teach police officers across Canada what to look for if they suspect a 
driver is under the influence of marijuana, or another illicit drug.

He says if an officer is at a roadblock where a driver is suspected of 
being high on a substance other than alcohol, the officer can use his or 
her senses, particularly sight and smell.

"Definitely, there's a very pungent smell, especially with the marijuana 
that's grown in B.C. It's the highest (potency) in Canada," says Roberts, 
noting some B.C.-grown pot has THC levels of 32 per cent.

Among the most common characteristics of people high on drugs is dilated 
pupils, Roberts notes.

He says young drivers need to be aware that besides not being allowed to 
drink and drive, they also are not permitted to "toke and drive".

"Obviously, marijuana affects your divided attention and how you perceive 
things." The final stage of the three-week Drug Recognition Expert program, 
which Roberts taught, gave officers "hands-on" experience checking for 
stoned drivers on the roads of Toronto. The first two weeks involved 
classroom instruction at the Ontario Police College, in Alymer, Ont.

Roberts says the course trains officers to conduct four different divided 
attention tests, all of which are used in a program that has been in place 
in Los Angeles since the late 1970s.

"So it's been around for quite some time. B.C. has taken the forefront in 
Canada," he says.

He notes that many officers are trained to look for drivers who are high, 
in one of seven drug categories.

Saanich police Const. Blair Stearn says a Standardized Field Sobriety Test 
developed in the U.S. for drunk driving assessments is also used to target 
drivers who are high on other substances. He says several symptoms drunk 
drivers display are also apparent with stoned drivers.

"They were able to tell which drug the person was on based on some 
physiological symptoms that (the driver's) body exhibits," says Stearn.

Staff Sgt. Ted Smith, in charge of traffic patrols for the RCMP on 
Vancouver Island, says it is easy to catch a driver who is stoned on 
marijuana at a roadblock.

"The most obvious thing is the undeniable odour," he says.

Smith says officers do have powers under the Criminal Code to arrest 
someone for impaired driving if they're high on marijuana, or at least 
detain a driver suspected of being stoned while behind the wheel. Finding 
marijuana on the driver gives police an even stronger case, he adds.

While police can use the Criminal Code to demand a blood or urine test from 
a driver suspected of being stoned, Smith says police cannot obtain a 
warrant to have a test conducted. However, he says the use of blood tests 
are quite rare.

Impaired driving convictions are also not very common in B.C. for drivers 
who are stoned on pot or other drugs. That said, Smith says the most common 
approach police employ when trying to take a stoned driver off the road is 
to issue a temporary driving suspension for 12 or 24 hours.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager