TOKE 'N' DRIVE CASE NIXED -- NOT A WHIFF OF PROOF

Can't Measure Pot's Effect: Judge

OTTAWA -- A man accused of toking and driving was found not guilty
yesterday after a judge found there was no way to assess the effect
that pot smoking might have had on the man.

"I don't have any evidence as to the effect marijuana may have had on
a person. How can one make that giant leap between proof of
consumption and the effect of consumption?" said Justice Richard
Lajoie as he found Stephen Ayotte, 33, not guilty of impaired driving.

Denied Smoking

Lajoie said he could not find impairment even if he accepted
testimony by Const. Michael O'Reilly that the accused man confessed
to smoking a couple of joints before his arrest on May 1, 2005.
Ayotte, for his part, denied smoking any marijuana that day and
denied making such an admission.

Lajoie said Ayotte's evidence expanded the reasonable doubt in the
case. He noted O'Reilly did not detect the odour of marijuana in
Ayotte's car or in the police cruiser when he arrested him.

Asked For Help

O'Reilly booked Ayotte after he was called to a residence around
midnight. Ayotte had knocked on the doors of two homes asking for
help for a flat tire. But the people who answered the door found
Ayotte's behaviour odd and called the police.

Ayotte testified he had had little sleep and little to eat in the
four days leading up to the incident, as he was under intense stress
due to the break up of his common-law marriage of nine years.

Following the verdict, Ayotte said he felt the judge's decision had been fair.