Pubdate: Thu, 19 Oct 2017
Source: Toronto 24hours (CN ON)
Copyright: 2017 Canoe Inc.
Contact:  http://24hrs.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4068
Author: Edward Prutschi
Page: 4

CANNABIS RESEARCH SUGGESTS FEDS' POT LAWS A GUESSING GAME

For a government that promised to legislate using evidence-based
science, the rapid approach of legalized marijuana in Canada is
starting to look like a case study in blind faith.

Last week, federal justice officials issued the next round of details
in their impending pot law. In addition to existing impaired-by-drug
laws that police are already using to prosecute drugged drivers, three
new criminal offences are destined to be born to deal with
pot-impaired driving all based on the quantity of THC found in a
person's body.

If you're caught with between two and five nanograms of THC per
millilitre of blood, you're facing a criminal conviction and a $1,000
fine. Quantities over five nanograms, or 2.5 nanograms combined with a
blood alcohol concentration over .50 (as compared to the legal limit
of .80 for alcohol impairment alone) will also carry $1,000 fines with
escalating jail sentences on subsequent offences.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to join a panel at the
Parachute Canada Vision Zero safety summit. After hobnobbing with
scientists, senior police officials, and visiting a CAMH cannabis
research lab, I learned that the string connecting our proposed new
laws to any scientific foundation is disturbingly thin.

There are currently zero devices approved for use in Canada to test
oral fluids for the presence of

THC. Even when (if ?) such a device is established as accurate and
approved, there is no way to definitively state how many nanograms of
THC might cause a particular individual to become impaired. The
government admits the scientific challenges and cautions in its
proposed regulation, "THC is a more complex molecule than alcohol and
the science is unable to provide general guidance to drivers about how
much cannabis can be consumed before it is unsafe to drive or before
the proposed levels would be exceeded."

That's a pretty shocking statement which exposes an intractable
problem. Pot legalization is coming. Some increase in potimpaired
driving is almost certain to come with it.

The government has promised an advertising campaign will be introduced
alongside legalization to educate the public about marijuana and the
new regulatory scheme but what can those ads tell users - particularly
younger users who will form the key target demographic? How much
marijuana can you consume and still be safe to drive? The government
doesn't know. How much marijuana can you consume before you're over
the legal limit? The government doesn't know.

Does it matter if you smoke, vape or eat your pot? The government
doesn't know.

Does exceeding the legal limit even mean your ability to drive a car
is impaired? The government doesn't know.

The only things the government does know is that come July 1, 2018,
pot will be legal. What happens next is anyone's guess.
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MAP posted-by: Matt