Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jan 2006
Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Prince George Citizen
Contact:  http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350
Author: Gordon Hoekstra, Citizen staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving)

POT USE FACTOR IN LOG CRASH: CORONER

In an unprecedented move, the B.C. Coroner's office released Monday 
the results of toxicology tests which show a logging truck driver 
killed in a backroad crash last month had used marijuana.

It's the first time in at least a decade the regional coroner's 
office has released information into a logging truck death before the 
investigation is complete.

Lloyd Edward Booth, 48, had a level of cannabis in his blood that 
would have resulted in impairment in his ability to operate a motor 
vehicle, said information released by regional coroner David Coverdale.

Booth's loaded logging truck went over a steep embankment on the 
morning of Dec. 8 heading south on the Raspberry Forest Service Roast 
near Houston, 300 kilometres west of Prince George. The truck lost 
its load of logs and the cab of the truck was crushed on impact. It 
was the fourth logging truck fatality in the Northern Interior in 2005.

Coverdale said according to a toxicology expert, the cannabis level 
confirmed in the analysis would have been a contributing factor in 
the incident.

"Because of the media coverage that's being paid to these forestry 
deaths, I felt, in this case, that it was worthwhile for the public 
to know what one of the major contributing factors were," Coverdale 
said in an interview. "If you have a whole bunch of people out there 
driving drunk, the public wants to know about it. If you have logging 
truck drivers our there smoking pot, I have a hunch the public wants 
to know about it," said Coverdale. "And I have no other way other 
than through this mechanism of releasing information," he said.

The coroner's office has been testing for marijuana through 
toxicology tests in forest-related deaths for several years, said Coverdale.

Logging truck fatalities are the leading cause of death in the 
forestry sector in northern B.C.

At least 22 log truckers have been killed on the job in the past 
decade in the Northern Interior, most of them in an area 250 
kilometres north, south and west of Prince George.

A seven-month Citizen investigation into the log trucking deaths 
raised questions of whether any lessons are being learned from the death toll.

But, with the exception of two coroner's reports that are still 
pending, neither alcohol nor drugs of any kind were cited as a factor 
in the fatal accidents of the past decade.

The B.C. Coroner's office continues to investigate the circumstances 
of Booth's death, although it said no other factors have been 
identified as contributing to the incident.

WorkSafe B.C., formerly the Workers' Compensation Board, and the RCMP 
are also investigating the fatality.

"It doesn't mean there aren't other contributing factors, the 
investigation is not finished yet," said Coverdale. "There may be 
other elements."

Booth, a veteran log trucker from Quesnel, was hauling logs to 
Canfor's Houston sawmill for John Himech Logging Ltd.

A representative for John Himech Logging Ltd. said they were taken by 
surprise by the toxicology results. "I can honestly say we were very 
shocked," said Janice Himech. "It was not something we were expecting."

She was unaware if there was any drug or alcohol programs -- through 
Canfor or the WCB -- the logging company may have tapped into had 
they identified an issue. "It's not a position we've ever been in 
ever before, so I don't know," she said.

The move by the B.C. Coroner's office to release the toxicology 
information is unprecedented as the results were released before the 
northern B.C. regional coroner's office has completed its judgment of 
inquiry, and just a month after the trucker's death.

The coroner normally only releases the final reports -- which usually 
take much longer to complete -- on request.

The northern regional office also has no history of releasing 
information before the final report is ready. For example, the 
results of the coroner's inquiry into the deaths of two other log 
truck drivers near Williams Lake -- one of them two years ago and the 
other more than a year ago -- are not complete and have not been released.

Central Interior Logging Association manager Roy Nagel welcomed the 
quick release of the toxicology information. He said he hopes the 
remainder of the information from the coroner's investigation comes 
out as quickly.

"I think it's crucial that if we're actually going to do anything 
about safety out on the roads and in the bush, we have to do timely 
reports on what happened and what were the causes," said Nagel.

Nagel, a director on the recently-established B.C. Forest Safety 
Council, acknowledged the toxicology results may not tell the whole 
story. "There could be other things that are there," he said. "This 
may or may not have been a contributing factor, and we don't know to 
what degree it would have been a contributing factor."

He said the B.C. Forest Safety Council, and industry-led group, has 
identified drug and alcohol abuse as a safety issue, but added nobody 
has a clear picture to what degree it is an issue.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom