ROADSIDE DRUG TESTS A TOUGH SELL: LAWYER

OTTAWA - A prominent defence lawyer in Ottawa believes the federal
government is going to have a hard time defending a bill that would
expand police powers to order blood, saliva or urine tests for
suspected drug-impaired drivers.

Lawrence Greenspon says there is simply not enough evidence to give
the police that kind of power.

Bill C-16 was introduced in the House of Commons earlier in the week,
alongside Bill C-17, the Liberal government's third attempt at
decriminalizing marijuana possession.

Bill C-16 would give police the power to stop drivers and ask them to
take a series of roadside co-ordination tests. It could lead to blood
tests.

Police believe the best way to detect people driving on drugs is
through drug recognition training. It teaches them to look for certain
signs like slurred speech or bloodshot eyes.

RCMP Const. Evan Graham is running the program in Canada. He says the
officers put the driver through a battery of tests, beginning with
people walking heel-to-toe in a straight line then standing on one
foot for 30 seconds.

"Then they'll check the person's pulse, blood pressure, body
temperature, the pupil's reaction to light," he says.

The driver may eventually have to give a urine, saliva or blood
sample. Greenspon says the government has no evidence that there is
even a problem in Canada.

"There is no evidence, there are no cases, that demonstrate that this
is a problem, that there are a whole bunch of people smoking pot and
getting out on the highway and driving," he told CBC.

Because there isn't a device such as a breathalyser for drugs, the
police believe drug recognition training is the best tool to detect
drug impairment.