DRE OFFICER CRACKS DOWN ON DRIVING HIGH

Officer trained to determine who's using which drugs, on and off the
road

Const. Brent Ray's job is becoming increasingly important.

More and more drivers are getting high before getting behind the wheel
and Ray is responsible for finding them out.

On Dec. 18, Saanich police issued five 24-hour driving suspensions to
people driving while under the influence of drugs.

Ray, a DRE, or drug recognition expert, with Saanich police, is
trained to recognize when someone is on drugs and can even determine
which class of drug, often just by looking.

"There's been a sharp increase in drug use and drug-influenced
drivers," Ray said after finishing 15 shifts at road checks around the
municipality over the holidays.

Ray encountered one driver he believed to be high on cocaine. Another
became impaired by taking too many antidepressants, then got in her
car.

Most people who are on drugs don't refuse testing for the presence of
drugs, Ray said.

"They honestly don't believe they're impaired. They want to prove
they're not, so they participate (in drug testing)."

He estimates around 40 per cent of impaired drivers are on drugs
rather than alcohol.

To determine what kind of drug an impaired person is taking, Ray
checks their clinical signs, which include blood pressure, pulse and
pupil dilation.

"Seventy per cent are on more than one category of drug," Ray
said.

The most common mix is marijuana with alcohol or other drugs. Heroin
and cocaine are also common - users like to combine the low heroin
brings with the high of cocaine.

Legislation is currently under review in the Senate that would make it
mandatory for citizens to submit to drug tests if an officer like Ray
believes the person to be high.

"That would finally make this (DRE) program a hallmark in Canadian
legal history," Ray said.