Pubdate: Mon, 02 May 2016
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2016 Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact: http://www.edmontonsun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.edmontonsun.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Claire Theobald
Page: 7

HIGH ROAD

City Police Prepare to Better Recognize Drivers Under the Influence 
of Drugs Ahead of the Pending Legalization of Marijuana

While recreational marijuana use is on the brink of being legalized 
in Canada, driving while high isn't, said a Colorado state trooper 
speaking to local law enforcement about how to curb drivers impaired by drugs.

"You are legalizing the consumption of marijuana; you are not 
legalizing driving impaired," said Lt.-Col. Kevin Eldridge of 
Colorado State Patrol, after delivering a seminar to local law 
enforcement at the eighth International Conference on Urban Traffic 
Safety at the Shaw Conference Centre last Monday.

Legalized pot

Recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Colorado in 2012, and 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to do the same for 
Canadians as early as 2017.

Unlike alcohol where there are set legal limits for impairment, those 
standards don't exist for marijuana, and a lack of research on the 
subject has left law enforcement playing catch up as attitudes toward 
marijuana shift.

"We think it is very important to build some information and work 
with our partners because that tool is not available for our 
officers," Eldridge said.

Since marijuana was legalized, Colorado traffic police have been 
collecting data and conducting a pilot study of five devices that 
could potentially be used to measure the amount of marijuana in a 
person's system, much like breathalyzers do for alcohol consumption.

Colorado law currently sets a limit of five nanograms of active 
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the chemical that makes marijuana users 
feel high - in a person's blood. Anyone driving while over the limit, 
currently con rmed using a blood test, could be charged with driving 
under the in uence.

That being said, as THC a ects users di erently and how marijuana use 
changes a person's driving ability is not well understood, these 
regulations serve only as a guideline. e real determination of 
whether a person is too impaired to drive is based on an o cer's observations.

Insp. Gibson Glavin, a spokesman for Alberta RCMP K-Division, said 
Canadian officers are trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of 
impairment, with some taking additional Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) 
training to better recognize when a driver is under the in uence of a 
substance other than alcohol.

"Because there is no specific technology or even a charge in Canada 
for being impaired by drug over any type of particular limit, they 
have to rely just on the behaviour and actions of the person," Glavin said.

Scott Pattison, a spokesman for the Edmonton Police Service, said 
city police are planning to increase the number of o cers who receive 
DRE training to prepare officers to better recognize drug impairment, 
including marijuana, ahead of legalization.

Edmonton police currently look for the odour of marijuana on a 
person, redness in the eyes, laziness or sluggish movements, slow 
reaction times, an inability to multitask and pupil dilation as signs 
of impairment by marijuana.

But while officers know people are already driving high, the actual 
numbers in Alberta - and similarly Colorado - are unknown, as is 
whether legalization will increase those rates, because statistics on 
driving under the in uence have not been divided by drug type.

While Edmonton police made 1,573 impaired driving arrests in 2015 - 
down from 1,780 in 2014 and 1,874 in 2013 - there is no di 
erentiation between drivers charged for being impaired by drugs, 
alcohol or both.

Dip in charges

Across Alberta in 2015, RCMP officers issued 6,737 charges for 
driving under the influence - compared to 7,140 in 2014 and 7,091 in 
2013 - but don't track how many of those charges are related to drugs.

Colorado troopers have started collecting more detailed statistics 
regarding what type of impairment a person is suspected of - though a 
thorough report on the subject will not be available until 2018 - and 
Eldridge recommends Canadian law enforcement do the same ahead of legalization.

Also not well understood is the effect of using marijuana on a 
driver's ability to safely control a motor vehicle, or how combining 
marijuana with other drugs or alcohol could affect a person's level 
of impairment.

While official data on the subject could be years away, Eldridge said 
state patrol officers have made some startling observations, 
including the fact that the No. 1 charge against drivers caught with 
marijuana on board is speeding, "which is the opposite of what we 
were expecting."

The RCMP is currently conducting research of its own in conjunction 
with the Ontario ministry of transportation and the Canadian Society 
of Forensic Science drugs and driving committee, examining three 
roadside tests designed to measure drugs in a driver's system.

Glavin said police will rely on clear direction from legislators to 
determine how they will enforce laws against driving under the in 
uence of marijuana.

Until more information and clearer legislation is available, Eldridge 
said collecting data, training officers and educating the public will 
be critical.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom