DRUGGED DRIVERS FACE CRACKDOWN

Drivers suspected of being on drugs may soon be required to let police test
their urine.

The B.C. government is studying a proposed change to the Motor Vehicle Act
under which drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs would be expected
to undergo a medical examination by a specially trained police officer, and
provide a urine sample.

Anyone who declined would be charged with refusing to submit to the test
and would face the same penalty as if convicted of impaired driving.

The proposed amendment would be similar to a current section making it an
offence to refuse to blow into a roadside alcohol-detection device.

"This was presented to the superintendent of motor vehicles," said
Insurance Corp. of B.C. spokesman Dean Pelkey. "They are still reviewing it."

Sgt. Lothar Czech, head of the Vancouver police traffic-support unit, said
more than 500 drivers suspected of being high on drugs have been given
24-hour roadside suspensions by specially trained officers since 1995, when
the first B.C. officers were sent to Los Angeles by ICBC to become drug
experts.

In 12 cases, drivers had their urine sent for analysis, resulting in five
impaired-driving charges being laid. Of those drivers, two pleaded guilty,
one had a stay of proceedings, an arrest warrant was issued in another, and
the fifth is before the courts.

Czech said that while "most people are co-operative," there is nothing
police can do to force a suspect to submit to the test.

Czech said the number of convictions will go up if Victoria changes the
Motor Vehicle Act to force drivers to submit to the drug test.

He said more police departments are training officers to spot drivers
impaired by drugs. "They don't want the legislation to come in and have no
one to do it."

To date, more than 50 officers from several municipal police forces and the
RCMP have graduated from an ICBC-funded Drug Recognition Expert course.

The two-week course, developed by the Los Angeles police department in
1979, has been offered for about a year at the RCMP's Vancouver
headquarters -- the only program of its kind in Canada, said Czech.

Officers take classroom lessons on how various drugs affect the body and
what symptoms to look for. Then they go to Vancouver's downtown east side
to practise what they have learned.

Police ask people who are obviously stoned to act as volunteers, in
exchange for coffee and doughnuts and the friendly company of officers.

Surprisingly, few turn down the offer.

"I get guys [who] come up to me and say, 'Anything to help science out,'"
said Czech, smiling.

Officers follow a 12-step program to determine which drug someone has taken.

They first smell a subject's breath to see whether there is alcohol, then
ask if he or she has taken any drugs, and if so, what.

Then the officers carry out a short medical exam. They measure pulse, blood
pressure and the size of the pupils, and also check muscle tone, look for
injection sites, and see if the subject's eyes can follow a penlight or
whether they flicker.

For instance, someone high on pot will have a higher pulse and blood
pressure, dilated pupils and flickering eyes and won't be able to cross the
eyes. Someone on heroin will have flaccid muscle tone, lowered pulse and
blood pressure and constricted pupils with little to no reaction to light.

After an examination, a qualified drug-recognition expert will be able to
say which of seven classes of drugs a person is on about 95 per cent of the
time, according to studies carried out by Johns Hopkins University and the
U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski