MARIJUANA CASE PUTS ATTENTION ON KEY QUESTIONS

A court case that ended this week in Pembroke illustrates some of the
issues that need to be resolved as Canada moves toward decriminalization of
marijuana.

Rick Reimer, a 48-year-old retired lawyer and marijuana advocate, was
acquitted of driving a motor vehicle while his ability was impaired by
marijuana.

Police followed Reimer's SUV for five kilometres on February 11, 2002, on a
county road near Killaloe and pulled him over after he had crossed the
centre line several times. He was smoking a joint when police pulled him
over, his speech was slurred and he lost his balance. (He continued toking
during questioning by police and, indeed, regularly puffed away on a joint
in court breaks during his three-day trial).

This case was complicated by the fact Reimer suffers from multiple
sclerosis, the symptoms of which might have made it look like Reimer was
impaired.

Reimer argued that marijuana has no impact on his driving, except, perhaps,
to make him a better driver.

A toxicologist, however, testified the active ingredient, THC, in marijuana
does impair driving ability, although the extent isn't easily understood or
measurable.

Left unable to distinguish between Reimer's normal or stoned state, without
an accurate indication of the effect on Reimer of the marijuana he had
smoked that day, Justice MacPhee decided to acquit.

Reimer, to his credit, understands that marijuana decriminalization is
complicated and requires several issues to be sorted out first. He was
hoping to focus attention on this fact during the trial.

"What I'm hoping will happen is that now there'll be more debate on that
issue and through a democratic process our government will decide, 'Well,
do we need a law and if so what kind of law do we need? What kind of
investigative tools do the police need?' These are all issues surrounding
marijuana that have been ignored."

He's right.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon says he will introduce a law early this
year decriminalizing - but not legalizing - marijuana possession, but there
doesn't seem to be a lot of thought given to what comes next.

MacPhee accepted the evidence of the toxicologist, rather than of Reimer,
that THC impairs driving ability. The problem then becomes how to translate
that fact into tools for the police.

Surely the police will need something to help them determine impairment and
measure intoxication caused by marijuana.

Considering the substantial effort that goes into detecting and charging
drinking drivers, it's not too much to expect that measures be put in place
to keep pot-smoking drivers off the road as well.