POLICE FORCES TRAINING OFFICERS AS DRUG RECOGNITION EXPERTS

SYDNEY - Drivers high on drugs won't get a free ride in Cape Breton,
where police forces are training officers as drug recognition experts
and taking advantage of new enabling legislation.

RCMP Const. Scott MacKenzie said he and other drug recognition
experts are qualified to conduct psychomotor and clinical tests on
drivers which will reveal the presence of cannabis, narcotics and
other types of drugs.

"In my opinion, there's a lot more drug-impaired driving than there
is alcohol-impaired driving," said MacKenzie, a traffic officer based
in North Sydney who has been trained for two years.

The Nova Scotia government has passed enabling legislation that since
July 2 has empowered police officers to demand that a driver
suspected of being impaired submit to an evaluation by a drug
recognition expert, explained provincial co-ordinator Scott
Macdonald, a Halifax Regional Police officer. Police can also demand
a urine, blood or saliva test.

Drivers can face charges of impaired driving or refusing to comply.

Two officers in the Cape Breton Regional Police Service are also
training to be certified as drug recognition experts.

Traffic Sgt. Doug Lawrence predicted the two officers being trained -
Const. Shane MacKenzie and Phillip Ross - will be joined by others in
the coming years.

Like other areas, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality has a problem
with drivers impaired by drugs, Lawrence said. Drivers may fear the
breathalyser, which police use to measure alcohol in the bloodstream,
but believe they can take drugs with impunity, he suggested.

"People are saying why drink? I can go and smoke some weed and do
some coke and go for a drive.

"And their mind is impaired."

Shane MacKenzie said he expects to finish his training in March.

Drivers should take advantage of the alternatives available to
operating a motor vehicle while impaired, he stressed.

"Impaired driving creates a very dangerous situation," he said.
"People are taking a chance when they do it."

Drug impairment has been a factor in tragic traffic accidents, he noted.

Police in Nova Scotia have laid about 25 impaired by drug charges
since July 2, Macdonald said.

'We are only behind Ontario in the number of charges we have laid,"
he said. "And that's because everybody in the province has really
bought into this and we have people trained."