WELL, OFFICER, THAT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DEFINE 'STONED'

An Ottawa man has been acquitted of driving while under the influence
of drugs after the judge agreed that there was no way to assess what
effect being stoned had on the ability to safely operate a vehicle.

Even though 33-year-old Stephen Ayotte had admitted to police that he
had smoked "a couple of joints" before getting behind the wheel on
May 1, 2005, Justice Richard Lajoie found him not guilty of impaired
driving, citing a problem with the law's definition of "impaired."

"I don't have any evidence as to the effect marijuana may have had on
a person," Lajoie said as he handed down his judgement. "How can one
make that giant leap between proof of consumption and the effect of
consumption?"

Although driving under the influence drugs like marijuana and cocaine
is explicitly illegal, there is no definition of the threshold of intoxication.

Former Justice Minister Irwin Cotler moved to alter impaired-driving
laws to address that problem in Apr 2004, but concerns over the
admissibility of roadside tests quashed the new laws.