DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVERS FACE POLICE SCRUTINY

New Law Lets Officers Request Fluid Sample

Drivers suspected of being high on drugs while behind the wheel will
soon face a battery of tests, thanks to a new federal law, but Calgary
motorists won't be in police crosshairs for drugged driving for at
least two months.

A week from today, police across Canada will have the power to order
roadside tests -- such as walking in a straight line -- as well as get
urine, blood or saliva samples from drivers suspected of being
impaired due to drugs.

Drivers who refuse to comply will face a minimum $1,000 fine -- the
same penalty for refusing the breathalyzer.

The law, passed this year after three failed attempts and five years
of intense debate in Parliament, has been lauded by law enforcement
and groups who say drug-induced drivers are going unpunished at a time
when their numbers are climbing.

"This is something we've been waiting for for a long time," said Sgt.
Richard Butler of the Calgary Police Service's traffic section. "We
know there's drug-impaired drivers out there."

But in Calgary, and apparently throughout the country, it's still
unclear how police will check for impairment.

Butler said he hasn't received national direction on which of blood,
urine or saliva will be used to test for the presence of drugs, though
he suspects the latter two are more likely because they're less intrusive.

Four Calgary officers are being trained specifically to deal with
drug-impaired drivers and will be ready near the end of August.
They'll be the ones to take drivers suspected of being high to an
office or hospital to extract bodily fluids.

Looking for drug impairment isn't as simple as looking for alcohol,
Butler said, because police are only looking for the presence of
drugs, not whether that presence passes a threshold.

"We're really encroaching on new ground here," he said. "Everyone's
familiar with that 0.08 (blood-alcohol level) -- that magic line in
the sand. There isn't that same limit with drugs."

That's exactly the problem with the law, said Stephen Jenuth, a
Calgary defence lawyer and president of the Alberta Civil Liberties
Association.

Traces of drugs can remain in someone's body for weeks, he said, but
that doesn't mean they're impairing the person.

The new law has also sparked warnings about potential court battles
from defence lawyers and civil libertarians who contend demanding
bodily fluids is intrusive.