DOPEY DRIVERS BEWARE

More drivers who are high on drugs instead of booze are getting caught
by city police.

And with new laws to back them up, it's easier for cops to prove that
a toke is as bad as a pint behind the wheel.

In 2007 city police issued about 200, 24-hour suspensions to drivers
who were impaired because of drugs, said Const. Ian Brooks, who
conducts alcohol and breath testing with the Edmonton Police Service.

This year, they have already had 163 drug-based 24-hour suspensions -
well on the way to topping 2007 numbers.

"You're certainly seeing an increase in drug-impaired driving," he
said.

Recent approval of federal legislation should make it easier to charge
people impaired by drugs, he said.

Bill C-2, passed July 2, allows police to demand drivers submit to a
more sophisticated series of tests that will indicate whether they are
on drugs.

In addition to being subjected to a roadside sobriety test, which
usually involves standing on one foot or checking a person's eyes, now
drivers can be asked to undergo another level of scrutiny.

Their heart rate can be tested, they can be checked for physical signs
of drug use and may be asked to give a blood, urine or saliva sample.
If a driver refuses, they can be charged, he said.

Prior to July 2, if a driver passed a blood-alcohol test there was
nothing further police could do to prove they were on drugs, Brooks
said.

Charging a driver with being impaired was an option, he added, but it
was difficult to prove what the driver had taken.

"Now we have a level playing field," he said.

"It's not just alcohol impairment. We're going to have a mechanism in
place to go to court."

The drug tests were adopted from criteria developed in Los Angeles
which dates back to 1979, he added.

People who think they can smoke a joint and get behind the wheel
without fear of prosecution should think again, said Gladys Shelstad,
president of the Edmonton chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving
(MADD).

"We saw that was the attitude," she said.

"We want them to understand that it is an impairment ... MADD has
known for a long time it is a serious problem."

MADD even launched a series of television ads, some featuring
hallucinations of a talking pack of cigarette papers, designed to
discourage people from taking drugs and driving.

While Shelstad hopes people won't toke up and drive, she expects the
number of people charged with being impaired by drugs will increase.

"I think the public is going to see these numbers getting higher," she
said.

"I wish they wouldn't. Whether you're impaired by drugs or alcohol,
you're still impaired."