JUDGE DISMISSES IMPAIRED CHARGE

Not Convinced Marijuana Affected Teenager's Ability to Drive Vehicle

KITCHENER -- The odour of marijuana may have been wafting from Paulo
Silva's car when a cop stopped him last winter.

But it's a leap to say the pot impaired his ability to drive, a Kitchener
judge ruled yesterday.

"There's no one to tell me what marijuana is, no evidence to tell me what
effects marijuana has on the body, what effects it has on the ability to
drive," Justice Bruce Frazer said.

Because of the lack of such evidence, he dismissed a charge of impaired
driving against Silva, 19.

At Silva's trial, court heard police received a call on Dec. 29, 2001,
about possible drug activity in a house near Lancaster Street in Kitchener.
They went out and spotted Silva's car backing quickly out of a driveway.

His car seemed to be weaving slightly in the lane, so Const. Glen Poole
stopped him. He smelled marijuana in the car and saw a smoky haze, court
heard. Silva's eyes looked glassy and pink or red, and he appeared dazed
and confused.

Silva admitted he'd inhaled two puffs of pot from a pipe earlier outside
the car, but denied smoking in the car. The officer also questioned his
passenger.

The teens showed the officer some marijuana in a side door panel of the
car. A pipe was under the seat.

Silva was also charged with possession of pot.

But the judge said he didn't have enough evidence to rule Silva's driving
had been impaired.

The apparent lane-weaving could have been due to the road being slippery
and snow-covered and the lane markings invisible, Frazer said.

"The driving was as much consistent with weather conditions as it would
have been with an impaired driver," Silva's lawyer, Brad Dempster, said
outside court.

And though the officer said Silva's movements were slow, the judge
questioned whether that was proof of impairment. There was nothing to
suggest Silva's co-ordination or balance were affected, he said.

"There were no disturbances of thought or speech," he noted. Silva pulled
over his car in a controlled manner and was able to retrieve his wallet
easily, the judge said.

"I'm left in some doubt as to whether or not you were impaired by marijuana."

The judge gave Silva a conditional discharge for possession of marijuana
and put him on 11 months probation.

Despite his ruling, the judge also ordered Silva to write a report for his
probation officer on the potential effects of ingesting "toxic substances"
while driving. He didn't specify whether marijuana was included as a toxic
substance.

Dempster said he assumed the judge was referring to alcohol and drugs in
general.