The Expected Effect of Canada’s New Impaired Driving Laws

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Motivated by the fact that society has chosen to accept recreational use of marijuana, Canadian legislators have enacted some new impaired driving laws. These represent an attempt to avoid creation of a group of mothers that advocate for more restrictions on drivers that get high, before sitting behind the steering wheel.

Procedures permitted by new legislation

Random testing by police, if driver appears under the influence of alcohol. Targeted driver can be pulled over and asked to take a standard breathalyzer test. It is now OK to administer a saliva test at the side of the road. This test checks for the presence of THC, cocaine or methamphetamine.

Alterations in guidelines and charges

Two changes in the guidelines that relate to unacceptable THC levels: The new maximum is a range, instead of a single point. That range is 2-5 ng of THC per ml of blood. Criminal charges can be brought against a driver with more than 5 ng of THC per ml of blood. Drivers that show a high reading after both the test for alcohol and the test for THC could face either a fine or imprisonment.

Complaints made by groups that focus on helping citizens to retain their legal rights

Saliva tests are unreliable. Utilization of an unreliable test could lead to the discovery of false positive results. In other words, there was a good chance that a larger than expected number of the tested drivers would appear to have blood levels higher than 5 ng. It would not be fair to penalize a citizen for a violation that could not be fully justified.

The exact meaning of THC’s level in the bloodstream has not been well-studied. If its meaning cannot yet be explained, using documented information, why should citizens get charged for test results that may one day prove meaningless?

A proposed method for dealing with the listed complaints

Parents want their older children to be safe, once they start driving on the road. On the other hand, the government should finance further research into the meaning of THC’s level in the bloodstream.

Drivers that have undergone a saliva test, one with a reading of 5 ng per ml in the bloodstream, could have their license suspended temporarily, with the tested fluid sent to a lab that was working on a better test. If no test were to become available within 3 months, the suspension could be removed. And if they were involved in an accident, the victim might not hesitate to hire the services of a personal injury lawyer in Oakville.

The government would then need to deal with the record of the suspension. It could wipe it off the record immediately, or leave it on the record until the tested driver had gone for 3 months without showing any signs of driving, while under the influence of drugs.

61 thoughts to “The Expected Effect of Canada’s New Impaired Driving Laws”

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