FEDS LOOK TO CRACK DOWN ON DRUGGED DRIVERS

OTTAWA -- The federal government wants to help police collar stoned
drivers as it moves to decriminalize small amounts of pot.

But the provinces would have to pay for related police
training.

"I would trust that the provinces will be able to come up with the
resources," Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said yesterday outside the
Commons.

He had just introduced drug-test legislation as a companion bill to
Ottawa's effort to decriminalize possession of less than 15 grams of
pot.

Police need the authority to demand physical tests and bodily fluid
samples so they can detect and deter drivers impaired by non-alcoholic
drugs, Cotler said.

Manitoba Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh announced last year he was
taking steps to take drug-impaired drivers off the road. Mackintosh
said legislative changes would allow police to administer roadside
drug tests to drivers suspected of being high on marijuana, cocaine or
prescription medicine.

Those who failed the tests would have their driver's licences
suspended for 24 hours or more. They could also have their vehicles
impounded for up to a month.

Drug-impaired driving is already an offence that carries a maximum
penalty of life imprisonment when it causes the death of another person.

There is no equivalent test to a breathalyser to measure drug
impairment, however, and related research linking drug use and driving
ability has been inconclusive.

Ottawa's proposed legislation would allow police to conduct roadside
attention tests and demand saliva, urine or blood samples if drivers
fail.

Refusal to comply with a demand would be a criminal offence. Lawyers
say the proposals give police too much power and will spawn court challenges.

Cotler says the bill provides the same powers allowed for
drunk-driving tests, and has been tested under the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms to withstand legal attacks. Drug users are
disproportionately involved in fatal accidents, he added.

Under the pot decriminalization plan, anyone caught with less than 15
grams would face a fine instead of a criminal charge. Penalties
against marijuana grow operations would increase.

The proposed drug-test bill would be "a huge start" to help balance
the government's decriminalization bid, said Greg Thomson of Ottawa.

Thomson lost his 18-year-old son almost five years ago. Stan was a
passenger in a vehicle that crashed, in part because of marijuana use,
Thomson said.

Four other young men were also killed.