Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jun 2017
Source: Amherst News (CN NS)
Copyright: TC Media 2017
Contact:  http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3379
Author: Geoff de Gannes
Page: 8

How prepared are police for drug-related impaired driving?

Canada's law enforcement agencies, MADD Canada and other first
responders took to the country's roads and highways recently in their
annual campaign to promote safety on our highways over the summer
holiday season.

Adding to the complexity of addressing the issue of impaired driving
is the steady increase in the numbers of drivers who have been stopped
for drug impairment.

Law enforcement is also concerned that the impending legalization of
marijuana by the Trudeau Government will compound the problem.

Right now cannabis is the No. 1 drug next to alcohol that has been
found in drivers arrested for impairment.

Figures from Statistics Canada show that the number of people charged
by Canadian police forces with drug-impaired driving offences,
including impaired operation causing death or bodily harm, along with
impaired operation of a vehicle, vessel or aircraft, rose from 183 in
2008 to 1,159 in 2013. (Over the same period, the number of people
charged with impaired driving fell from 65,822 to 53,944.)

In 2012, fully 40 per cent of those killed in car accidents in Canada
tested positive for recent use of drugs - nearly half of them for
cannabis - versus the 35.6 per cent who'd been drinking.

In light of the changes that are on the horizon with marijuana
legalization, MADD Canada has been spearheading the campaign to ensure
there is more effective testing and stricter enforcement. The
organization contends that Canada's current system for detecting,
charging and prosecuting drug-impaired drivers is not working.

MADD claims very few drug-impaired driving charges are being laid,
even though drug-impaired driving is becoming an increasingly larger
part of the overall impaired driving problem.

The technology to conduct simple, inexpensive roadside oral fluid or
saliva tests to detect drugs - similar to the way the breathalyzer
device detects alcohol - is now readily available. It has been adopted
in several Australian states and western European countries where it
has proven to be effective and cost efficient.

MADD Canada recommends the establishment of drug limits for the most
commonly-used illicit drugs, and the introduction of road-side saliva
testing for drugs. In recent months, law enforcement agencies have
conducted a roadside drug testing pilot project involving drivers who
volunteered to have their mouths swabbed. The devices measured the
presence of the drug, not how impaired someone was.

The government's bill to legalize cannabis consumption was unveiled in
April and the reforms create three new drug-impaired driving offences,
and radically toughen drunk-driving laws, giving police more power to
detect illegal blood alcohol limits, prosecutors more tools to secure
convictions and judges harsher sentences to impose.

As with any new legislation, the devil is in the details and we still
don't know just how seamless this process will be and what impact it
will have in curtailing the carnage that is happening on our highways
each and every day because of alcohol and drug impairment.

Geoff deGannes is the past chairman of the Tantramar Radio Society. His 
daily commentaries can be heard on 107.9 CFTA.
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