Pubdate: Fri, 28 Nov 2014
Source: Metro (Calgary, CN AB)
Page: 10
Copyright: 2014 Metro Canada
Contact:  http://www.metronews.ca/Calgary
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4471
Author: Jeremy Nolais

DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVERS STILL TOUGH TO NAB: COPS

Force Hopes Tech Will Be Ready For Use Come 2016

City police say the rollout of a new Breathalyzer for alcohol
impairment has been smooth but are still hoping the feds will approve
a companion device to help them smoke out stoned drivers.

Last year, law enforcement around the province transitioned away from
the Intoxylizer 5000C, which was developed in the 1980s, to the Intox
EC/IR II. The latter device provides the same level of accuracy when
it comes to measuring blood-alcohol level and is a tad more
user-friendly, according to Sgt. Rick Butler.

"It's worked very well; we've had no issues to speak of," he
said.

But police have conceded that nabbing drivers under the influence of
drugs remains a challenge. Currently, they turn to screening courtesy
of one of five trained drug-recognition experts (DREs) on the service.
Two years ago, the service had 20 members capable of performing such
an evaluation.

This year, police have charged just three people with drug-impaired
driving but say more could have faced charges for refusing to comply
with a screening.

"We've been through a number of different challenges with that (DRE)
program, and the next challenge is to bring in some type of
instrumentation that will help us detect the drug-impaired driver
because, until this point, we've been relying solely on an officer's
observations," Butler said.

Police lump crashes where drug impairment was a factor in with those
involving alcohol - to the end of October, there had been 520 such
incidents in 2014. In another 274 cases, at least one motorist had
consumed an impairing substance but didn't exceed levels mandated in
the Criminal Code of Canada.

Butler said his understanding is a federal RCMP review of multiple
drug-screening devices may not be completed until late 2015, and then
a recommendation would be submitted to federal justice
representatives.

The hope is to have a drug-detecting device on Calgary streets come
2016, he said.

"Put it this way: as soon as one is recommended, I'm sure there's
going to be a major purchase of them," Butler added. Butler said the
advancement of technology would purely "assist" the DRE program, not
replace it.

At least one veteran researcher with the Canadian Centre on Substance
Abuses, however, has warned that the drug-impairment devices currently
only test for the "main players," such as pot, cocaine and opiates
and, even then, they're not completely reliable.

Terry Hughes, president of the Calgary chapter of Mothers Against
Drunk Driving, said drug impairment behind the wheel is the No. 1 item
on the radar of his group's national executives.

"It's a concern that, first of all, the public think they can get away
with it and get through the cracks," he said. "It's definitely an area
where we're lobbying locally, provincially and federally for better
tools for the officers."

[sidebar]

By the numbers 520

By October's end there had been 520 crashes involving drug and/or
alcohol impairment in Calgary in 2014  
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D