THE 'POTALYSER': CATCHING PEOPLE WHO TOKE AND DRIVE

Ottawa Determined To Come Up With A Legally Viable Test

OTTAWA - Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he is working with police
forces across Canada to develop a reliable test to detect drug-impaired
driving that he hopes to "fast-track" into existence in the next few months.

The test would be accompanied by changes to the Criminal Code "pretty soon"
that would enable police to legally carry out the examinations, he said.

"We've been working over the last few months with police forces from across
the country in order to develop a test," Cauchon said outside the House of
Commons on Wednesday. "What we will do over the next few weeks is to speed
up the process in order to implement a test that will be accepted by the
court."

The minister revealed that a test is on its way as critics complained a
plan to decriminalize marijuana should not go ahead without measures in
place to test for people who use drugs and drive.

People caught with less than 15 grams of marijuana in their vehicles will
be fined up to $400 instead of being criminally charged if the bill becomes
law.

Cauchon acknowledged Wednesday that there is no "valid test" on the market
for detecting drug impairment.

The minister refused to reveal details of the pending test, already dubbed
by some wags as a "potalyser," saying only that it is a mix of examining
blood levels and physical symptoms.

"There's a question of blood test, but then you have to proceed with a
physical behaviour test," he said. "We'll proceed this fall and we'll make
sure that the test we will develop will be accepted by the courts so that
we can have indeed a very good tool to enforce."

He said that he will present the test to provincial justice ministers when
they meet for their annual gathering in September.

Cauchon would not comment on whether the test would be voluntary or
compulsory, or whether it would be done at roadside, like the breathalyser
test to detect drinking while driving.

However, he acknowledged that the national initiative would be based, at
least in part, on a test that is currently used in B.C., which he said has
been upheld by the courts in that province.

In that province, RCMP have a testing program in which police officers are
trained to identify impaired drivers by the physiological signs and
symptoms of drug use. The drug recognition expert program was developed in
the U.S. in the 1970s, but in Canada it still has not expanded beyond
British Columbia.

Cauchon said he hopes that officers can be trained across the country.

However, there are legal roadblocks to securing a result and it is up to
drivers to voluntarily take the test or give a sample of blood or urine to
confirm the result.

Police have also voiced skepticism about tests for drug impairment. Unlike
drunk driving, in which there is a measurable link between blood alcohol
levels and driving ability, research is lacking to equate drug quantity and
impairment, police say.