IMPAIRED LAW HAS TO BE BACKED WITH RELIABLE TESTING

What Canada Thinks

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced his government's
intention to get tough on people driving while under the influence of
drugs, boosting penalties for those who fail drug tests. This would
put into effect a similar law in use in Manitoba, but may also ask
the courts to rely on evidence of impairment from chemical tests that
have not been proven entirely reliable. Such a law's validity is open
to challenge.

Harper didn't say what new tools the police will have, but they are
likely to include the roadside sobriety test now in use in Manitoba
when an officer suspects someone is driving under the influence of
drugs. Refusing to take this test results in a charge, in a similar
way that refusing a breathalyser for alcohol does. Under the Highway
Traffic Act, someone who has used drugs and is impaired can see their
licence suspended.

Harper intends to reform the Criminal Code, which suggests stiff jail
terms are in the offing. At present, drivers who are impaired can be
jailed for longer terms depending on whether it is a repeat offence
or how much alcohol was in a person's blood. Anyone with a drug of
any type alcohol, prescription medicines, cold medication, or
recreational drugs in their system may be subject to this law.

Tests can determine elevated concentrations of alcohol in a person's
system, which compounds the impairment. This is not so clear with
other drugs and such convictions have been much rarer. Chemical tests
can determine what drug has been used, but the science behind
impairment concentrations of a drug are sketchy.

Indeed, someone addicted to heroin can function perfectly normally.
His driving may be affected by an antihistamine, or with a little
alcohol, but Harper's law may make him vulnerable to a stiff jail
term for shooting up.

The prime minister did not enunciate how the law will deal with this
problem, except to say that he would "strengthen presumptions" of the
tests available.

Failing a sobriety test and testing positive for a drug may warrant
keeping someone off the road, as is done in Manitoba. Throwing
someone in jail, in the absence of strong evidence a drug has
impaired their driving, may test the tolerance of judges. Harper
should be cognizant of that, which may require using the best
evidence available for individual drugs and tailoring the law appropriately.

An editorial from the Winnipeg Free Press, published Nov. 14