DRUGGED DRIVERS POSE ROAD HAZARD

Allergy Pills, Marijuana Big Problem: Police

EVEN TEETOTALERS can be charged with impaired driving, according to the
Winnipeg Police.

That's because medicine cabinets containing a host of seemingly
innocuous medications can render someone just as impaired behind the
wheel as a driver who has downed three drinks in an hour. Add alcohol
to the mix and the intoxication factor rises considerably.

"There's a lot of ways to be impaired," said Rod Sudbury, alcohol
counter-measures co-ordinator for the Winnipeg police.

Yet many drivers think they have to consume alcohol to be considered
legally impaired, said Dale Wilson, president of the Winnipeg chapter
of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

"There's a lot of people who don't realize or don't read the packages,"
he said.

A recent study at the University of Iowa found the typical dose of an
antihistamine contained in Benadryl and other popular over-the-counter
allergy drugs had a greater effect than alcohol on a driver's ability
to maintain the same speed in traffic as other drivers.

The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, also found the
antihistamine, diphenhydramine, was similar to alcohol in the way it
impaired a driver's steering ability.

Serious impairment

In fact, the study found dozens of prescription and non-prescription
drugs can cause serious driving impairment either when taken by
themselves, with alcohol or when combined with other drugs.

The common anti-nausea drug Gravol, for instance, is fine to control
motion sickness for passengers, but it can cause drivers to fall asleep
at the wheel.

Commonly used antibiotics like tetracycline can cause dizziness behind
the wheel, ditto for diuretics or "water pills."

Despite warning labels advising people the product may cause drowsiness
and should not be taken if operating machinery or driving, few people
heed the warning, said Ron Guse, registrar of the Manitoba
Pharmaceutical Association.

Illegal drugs are also just as dangerous when taken alone or in
combination with alcohol or other drugs.

Sudbury said two Winnipeg police officers have recently returned from a
California training course on how to detect the signs of illicit drug
use by drivers.

Although the numbers of arrests for drug impairment are small -- only
eight over the past year -- Sudbury said the problem is serious.

"I'm just as concerned if not more concerned with someone driving down
the street blasted on cocaine than after a few cocktails," he said.

"I've also seen people take antihistamines with a few cocktails and
that's also very dangerous."

Winnipeg Police Const. Robert Riffel, one of the traffic division
officers who took the course, said it can be difficult to make a
drug-impaired driving charge stick in court.

Unlike alcohol impairment, which can be measured through a
blood/alcohol test, police do not have the right to ask for a blood or
urine sample to test for the presence of drugs.

Consequently, officers must rely on their powers of observation to
detect illicit drug use behind the wheel, he said.

"We have a big problem here with marijuana here but we don't have
enforcement tools," he said.