ROADSIDE MARIJUANA TESTING DIFFICULT: POLICE

Local News - Police are concerned it will be difficult to prove
motorists were driving under the influence of marijuana should it be
decriminalized.

"How are we going to evaluate whether the person has THC in their
system?" said city police Sgt. Rob Hotston. "I am not aware of any
scientifically approved test for evaluating THC in a person's system
other than drawing blood. We can't do blood tests on the side of the
road."

Both city police and Peterborough County OPP said without a reliable
roadside test it's also difficult to determine if a driver is impaired
by marijuana or lack of sleep, he said.

Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the chemical in marijuana that
produces psychoactive, mind-altering, reactions to the drug.

According to the Canada Safety Council (CSC), drivers under the
influence of THC can have impaired psychomotor skills and shorter
attention spans, making it more difficult to drive accurately and
steer. Under the Criminal Code, drivers can be charged with impaired
driving for using both alcohol and drugs.

The CSC recently released a report urging the provincial and federal
governments to consider new legislation for impaired laws,
zero-tolerance and 12-hour driver licence suspensions should small
amounts of marijuana be decriminalized.

Hotston said an officer can apply for a blood warrant when a person is
unable to provide a breath sample at the scene - such as in an
accident - and if alcohol is suspected.

If drugs are detected, the evidence is admissible but officers cannot
lay an impaired drug charge on scent alone, he said.

"The courts have held that the odour of marijuana is insufficient,"
Hotston said. "Coupled with other things it could be grounds for a
search but the sure fire way is through a blood test. I imagine that
would pose a number of constitutional issues."

Director of the OPP's drug enforcement unit, Det. Supt. Jim Hutchison,
said the decriminalization of marijuana and its possible spinoff
effect on impaired driving has been an ongoing policing concern.

Hutchison said three OPP officers from Toronto recently joined 17
officers from across Ontario in the Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) program.

The DRE program in Vancouver, B.C., trained and certified officers to
recognize the physical signs associated with different kinds of drugs,
Hutchison said.

But the training is costly and officers need to recertify every
year.

Hutchison said there is currently no plan to offer the program
again.