DOPED UP DRIVERS FALLING UNDER SCOPE OF RCMP

New drunk driving rules to increase punishments for 24-hour driving
suspensions may also give police a tool for dealing with drivers who are
high on marijuana.

Drivers under the influence of any substance can be charged with impaired
driving or a 24-hour suspension but it is much more difficult to do
something

But in B.C., drivers can be sanctioned with a 24-hour driving suspension and
beginning Aug. 1 those suspensions were given a little more weight.

Getting two or more suspension within two years will earn an additional two
months suspension and an additional suspension will garner three more
months.

This replaces the existing policy of sending a warning letter to drivers
with three 24-hour suspensions and a licence suspension after four times.

It's designed for drunk drivers but it can also work for drugged drivers and
that's what the Canada Safety Council is looking for.

Emile Therien, president of the CSC, says if Canada is going to relax its
law for simple possession and reclassify marijuana, it has to find a way to
detect it in drivers and set a limit.

"We want provincial and territorial governments to consider imposing
administrative licence suspensions on drivers who have been using cannabis,"
Therien says.

"Police with reason to believe a driver has been smoking pot should be able
to suspend that driver's licence under provincial highway traffic safety
acts."

The change in policy won't help police find high drivers but it may give
them a way to deal with suspects.

Currently, police on our roads have few ways to determine if a driver is
high--they have to smell it, see it or have the driver admit to it. There is
no roadside screening device to detect it like alcohol.

Police have the ability to charge someone with impaired driving if they have
evidence of recent marijuana use such as a smoke-filled vehicle.

Staff Sgt. Ron Danilowich, of the Kelowna RCMP traffic section, says if
police have visual or complaint evidence of erratic driving and drugs are
determined to be the cause, he can also issue a 24-hour suspension.

He's not too worried about not having a screening device, he's certain they
are on their way.

"Somebody will invent one of those one of these days," he says.

There are still some legal problems with the assumption that marijuana
impairs driving. A case in Ontario was thrown out and there is little
evidence to determine what dosage of marijuana can cause impairment.

THC diminishes psychomotor skills and attention span. It reduces the ability
to perform tracking tasks and at high doses, users drive less accurately and
show difficult with steering, Therien says.