Pubdate: Fri, 13 Dec 2002
Source: Ottawa Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002, Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact:  http://www.fyiottawa.com/ottsun.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/329
Author: Derek Abma

TOKER DEFENDS DRIVING

Says 'Very Rarely ... Stoned' Due To Regular Use

A possible precedent-setting trial of a man charged with driving impaired 
on marijuana is about halfway done following a day of hearings yesterday.

Rick Reimer, a retired lawyer living in Wilno, Ont., southwest of Pembroke, 
is charged even though he is legally permitted to smoke pot because of his 
multiple sclerosis.

He was pulled over by the OPP last February. Police say his car crossed the 
centre median and he was subsequently charged with impaired driving.

The Killaloe court heard testimony yesterday from the officer who stopped 
Reimer and a toxicology expert.

What makes this case a difficult one is there is no established way for law 
enforcement officials to determine if someone is impaired by marijuana, as 
a breathalyzer does with alcohol intoxication.

Reimer smokes marijuana all day, every day. He said he smokes so much, he 
is almost never impaired by it.

"Because I smoke regularly from morning until night every day, very, very 
rarely (am I impaired)," he said. "And when I say rarely, I can think of 
one time in the last decade when I had some marijuana that really got me, 
quote, stoned, unquote -- where I felt really high." Reimer, who is 
representing himself, said he can't say the general population should be 
permitted to drive after smoking marijuana but does say pot's effect on 
driving is less severe than alcohol's.

The next date in Reimer's trial is likely to be in February or March. He is 
planning to testify.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart