HARPER CRACKS DOWN ON DRUG-IMPAIRED DRIVING

Promised Legislation Would Bring Higher Penalties, New Police Tools

KITCHENER - The federal government will introduce legislation this
month to crack down on drivers who get behind the wheel while high on
drugs, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday.

The promised bill will increase penalties for drivers under the
influence of drugs, provide police with more tools to detect when
motorists are high and promote increased awareness of the problem,
the prime minister said.

"When most Canadians think of impaired driving, they think of drunk
driving," Mr. Harper said. "But increasingly, police have to contend
with drug-impaired driving: operating a vehicle while under the
influence of narcotics. Just like a drunk driver, a drug-impaired
driver presents a danger -- to himself or herself and to others."

The legislation, to be introduced when the House of Commons returns
from its Remembrance Day break, will also "strengthen presumptions"
of breath and blood tests for drug-impaired drivers, although testing
for drug impairment in Canada is currently difficult.

"There are technological challenges in terms of testing for certain
kinds of drugs," Mr. Harper said.

"(But) there are things we can do, and will be doing and work will
continue on the development of technology as well."

Mothers Against Drunk Driving officials noted there are a number of
reliable drug tests now in use in the United States that could be
easily adopted in Canada under the proposed bill.

MADD Canada chief executive officer Andy Murie said that simply
announcing the proposed legislation will have a chilling effect on
people who might be planning to use drugs and drive.

"It has a great deterrence effect just making this public," he said.

He said drug-impaired drivers are a serious problem on Canadian
roads, citing a study in Quebec that suggested as many of 20 per cent
of impaired drivers had been stopped while under the influence of an
illicit drug.

"There could be hundreds of thousands of drivers out there who are
impaired by drug use," said Mr. Murie.

Mr. Harper made the announcement flanked by Senator Marjory LeBreton,
a longtime supporter of MADD whose daughter and grandson were killed
by a drunk driver 10 years ago. She called the announcement "gratifying."