WIN SPARKS LEGAL DEBATE

Studies On Toking And Driving Needed: Lobbyist

POT activist Rick Reimer's courtroom victory to toke and drive might not be
binding, but those on both sides of the debate call his win an impetus for
change.

The lower court ruling, which found there wasn't enough evidence to convict
Reimer of impaired driving, serves as a wake-up call that more research and
new laws are needed -- especially as the federal government debates
decriminalizing the drug.

The former Ottawa Valley lawyer and multiple sclerosis sufferer who has a
medical exemption to smoke marijuana was stopped by police last February
after he was seen swerving over the centre line of Hwy. 58 near Killaloe.

While Staff Sgt. Marc Pinault of the Ottawa Police drug squad doesn't think
Reimer's case will open the floodgates for people who want to toke and
drive, it does highlight the problems that police and courts face in trying
to prosecute such individuals.

SERIOUS OFFENCE

"No doubt there's people out there always reaching out for things. They
might see something like this and will use it to whatever advantage, but
impaired driving by drugs is no less serious than impairment by alcohol,"
he said.

"The threshold for finding people guilty of impaired driving is very, very
technical."

Raynald Marchand of the Canada Safety Council agreed with Judge Bruce
McPhee that more research is necessary. However, he also suggested
situations such as Reimer's might be better handled under the Highway
Traffic Act.

Patients prescribed drugs that could interfere with their ability to drive
have long been reported to the ministry of transportation by their own
physicians and Marchand thinks the same could be done for drivers with
marijuana exemptions.

Under the Highway Traffic Act, such people can be subjected to a test and
can have their licences suspended or revoked.

Marijuana champion Mike Foster said he likes to "take our victories in the
marijuana movement one little hurrah at a time."

The owner of the Bank St. hemp shop Crosstown Traffic said the Reimer case
really highlights the need for a national study on the effects of pot on
driving.

"I think it shows we're actually taking it seriously and that we're
actually going to look at these issues. It's a lot better than it was 10
years ago when I first opened my store and politicians wouldn't even talk
about cannabis."

In the absence of breathalyzer-like technology, director Neev Tapiero of
the organization Cannabis As Living Medicine thinks a standard field
sobriety test is a good starting point to detect marijuana impairment.

"If you can't pass a field sobriety test for whatever reason, regardless of
whether it's cannabis, prescriptions or alcohol, you shouldn't be driving,"
he said.