Marijuana.com

JnEverett

City police vs. stoned drivers
12-20-06 l The Intelligencer l W. Brice McVicar

A lack of tools leaves Belleville police officers virtually weaponless to battle motorists under the influence of marijuana, local police say.

Insp. Merle Foster said the number of people driving while under the influence of marijuana has increased over the past few years but officers’ hands are tied when it comes to proving it. Without blood tests or finding the drug inside the vehicle, there is little an officer can do.

“We know it’s there for sure but it’s almost impossible .... Well, look at the difficulty we have proving someone’s under the influence of alcohol,” Foster said.

Foster said the difficulty in proving someone is under the influence of marijuana hinders officers from being able to press charges. He said when you consider how many people use marijuana, there can be no doubt these individuals are getting behind the wheel after smoking.

A recent study issued by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse backs up Foster’s claim — it shows the number of drivers operating a vehicle while under the influence of cannabis and hashish has doubled since 1989. Of 4,639 Canadians questioned for the 2004 Canadian Addiction Survey, 4.8 per cent reported driving within two hours of using cannabis.

Brooke Bryce, communications advisor for the centre, said it is primarily younger drivers who are committing the offence.

“It’s most often young males between 16 and 19 and they’re doing it, on average, 24.5 times a year,” she said.

Foster said an increase in marijuana impaired drivers should be a concern for motorists because of the impact the drug has on their ability to drive. It is not that much different than alcohol, he said.

“It affects their motor skills.”

Foster said it is hard to prove a driver has used marijuana but did say “it’s suspected, absolutely. Can I back it up with stats? No, I can’t.”

Foster said for charges to be laid, a motorist almost has to be found with the drug. Testing for alcohol impairment takes a simple breathalyzer but marijuana is a different issue, he said.

“It’s out there. It’s happening and we need more tools to apprehend the people who are doing it. Give us a little more authority to do blood tests and then we can get it out of them.”

Police in Canada do have the ability to use the Drug Recognition Expert Program — a 12-step program used to assess the level of impairment of any drug — but it is not mandatory for drivers to submit to the test, unlike a roadside breathalyzer.

Bryce said the program is not well known.

“Right now, that program is not very wide spread and participation in that program is voluntary.”

The survey results come just a month after the federal Conservative government tabled legislation to crack down on drug-impaired drivers with heavier fines and jail terms.

The plan — first advanced by the former Liberal government— will also make it harder to challenge breathalyzer tests in court for those who get behind the wheel while high on marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine or a variety of other drugs.

Canada has done a “really, really good job” of battling impaired driving due to alcohol, Bryce said, and it has now come time to put the same type of a concerted effort into impaired driving due to drugs and narcotics.

 

nornerator

I'm not doubting that some people have trouble driving under the influence of marijuana, but are there real statistics that show Marijuana intoxication causes car accidents? It just seems silly to me, most people are perfectly fine driving after smoking.

Buzzby

It all depends on how much they've smoked - just like with alcohol. Last night I inadvertently got much more stoned than I usually like to get and couldn't stand up without leaning on something. I would have been deadly behind the wheel of a car.

The way to go is impairment testing.

To be exact, that tests for blood alcohol level, not impairment. Some people can be very drunk under the legal limit while others can be quite functional over it.

Yeah. I really want cops drawing blood samples by the side of the road. If they must test, they should be doing saliva tests which are no more invasive than breathalyzers and give a better idea of recent use.

That's nuts! A useful, non-invasive technique is not mandatory while a less useful, invasive technique is mandated by law. The problem is not how much of a drug might be in a person's system, but how negatively that drug might affect their ability to drive. Test impairment, not drug levels. At one time a field sobriety test could be argued to be too subjective, but now, when most police cars are equipped with video cameras, a field sobriety test can provide hard, objective evidence of impairment.

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scanduscolin

I made an account just to reply to this. Personally I have smoked weed for over 3 years and over a year and a half for everyday use. I have driven stoned minimum... Absolute minimum... 150 times this year. I have never gotten a speeding ticket, never gotten into an accident and pretty much nothing has ever happened.

Fuck any laws against that shit.

SirSmokaALot

Yes i know... i am the same over here but remember you're speaking for yourself. What about other people's ability to do so? Some people cant drive even after 1 ripp... i mean everybody has their own limits due to genetics/size/weight/height/tolerance.... shit there's even more to name soo this is where law fails at because they sets up "a standardized limit" for everybody when people most likely aren't gonna have same limits.

 

Buzzby

There you have it: scientific proof that smoking pot doesn't affect your driving ability.

And thank you for your intelligent comment.

godfather

I don't really think they should even need limits. To me, the fact that driving impaired to any level, whether you think you are or not, is a danger to more people than just yourself, should be enough to keep people from driving under the influence. Those limits aren't there to keep you from hurting/killing yourself, but to keep you from hurting someone else. I will agree that the effects of marijuana are perhaps not as impairing as alcohol, even at high levels, but that doesn't mean you aren't affected by it.

kcbennie

They should have to use urine samples, and they should have to hold the cup.

T.B.Lebowski

Ive driven high many times. The few and I mean few probably only 5 in my 12+ years of driving( usually tail light out couple times for speeding) the cop absolutely love me. My midwestern draw comes out and im probably the most respectful and happiest person that has ever been given a ticket, hell I even showed up to pay the ticket blazed out and the lady thought i was adorable; said i was the first person who claimed they deserved the ticket.
Alcohol on the other hand turns me into a monster, the last time i drank (which will be the last tiome forever) I blacked out and now I am facing anywhere from 3 months to a year in jail(Kansas) and Ill deserve every bit of it. I knew I should of just stuck with good ol mother earth.