Pubdate: Thu, 30 Jun 2005
Source: Strathmore Standard (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 Strathmore Standard
Contact:  http://www.strathmorestandard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3322
Author: Jackie Gold
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

THE DANGERS OF DRIVING WHILE ON DRUGS						

Strathmore Standard -- The Canada Safety Council appeared before the 
Standing Committee on Justice Human Rights, Public Safety and 
Emergency Preparedness on June 9, to express its concerns about Bill 
C-16, which proposes changes to the Criminal Code to address 
drug-impaired driving.

The Canada Safety Council president Emile Therien urged the federal 
government not to proceed until the necessary groundwork is in place.

"Action is needed now," said Therien, "but the priority must be 
public safety and not criminal sanctions. The proposed changes are 
premature, and may stand in the way of more effective measures."

The Criminal Code is not the only tool available to deal with 
drug-impaired driving. Provincial and territorial traffic codes also 
have sanctions for persons suspected of driving while impaired.

For example, police can suspend a driver's licence if any type of 
impairment is suspected, taking potentially dangerous drivers off the 
road immediately, and give them a strong warning.

"Under section 253 of the criminal code the charge is driving while 
your ability to drive a motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol or a 
drug," said Cpl. Pattie Neely of the Strathmore RCMP.

"So we do have the authority under that section to charge people for 
driving while impaired by a drug."

Of particular interest to the Canada Safety Council is the federal 
government's promise of millions of dollars to train police officers 
to detect drug impairment.

Therien stresses that the training is urgently needed and urges the 
government to proceed with it aside from Bill C-16.

"The problem often is that we have no means of measuring your level 
of impairment by drugs," Neely said.

"For example, with alcohol we have our intoxolizer or screening 
devices that allow us to determine the concentration of alcohol and 
then allows us to make a judgement based on levels of fact.

"With impairment by drug we have to go by indications we see in your 
behavior like coordination and symptoms that we see people exhibit 
and that's not as easy to prove in court as it is to prove impairment 
caused by alcohol."

Roadside breathalysers provide an effective and convenient way for 
police to detect and measure the presence of alcohol, however there 
is no similar method to test for cannabis.

Testing is complicated by the fact that cannabis can be detected in 
the body long after its impairing effects have worn off.

Drug-impaired driving also includes impairment by legal drugs. 
Studies have found a significantly higher crash risk in people taking 
benzodiazepenes, which are prescribed to combat anxiety and insomnia 
among seniors. The impairment may even be higher than that from cannabis.

"We see that (impaired driving) a lot, often inadvertently with 
people using prescription drugs and perhaps having one or two 
alcoholic drinks in combination with prescription drugs multiplies 
their impairment, but it's actually difficult to prove what's causing 
the impairment," Neely said.

"The worry for us is not so much the frustrations for the police as 
it is the risk that these people pose for the community at large, 
because whether you're driving under the influence of drugs or 
alcohol if your ability to drive is impaired then you are a risk to the people."
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MAP posted-by: Beth