The Liberal government tabled marijuana legalization legislation on April 13, 2017, fulfilling a long-standing campaign promise and priming Canada to become just the second country in the world – Uruguay was the first – to fully legalize the sale and consumption of recreational marijuana. Alongside its bill to regulate the use, sale, and cultivation of the drug, the government also introduced a bill to strengthen impaired driving laws in a bid to address concerns raised by road safety advocates, motor vehicle accident lawyers, and law enforcement officials.
“We really hope we don’t see a rise in impaired driving because of marijuana legalization, but we have to prepare as if we will see an increase,” Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Sgt. Peter Leon told the CBC in April. “We’ve already seen a rise in drug-impaired driving, from 24 arrests in 2015 to 86 arrests last year, which is a three-fold increase.”
Impaired driving legislation
The proposed impaired driving reforms may please advocacy groups and motor vehicle accident lawyers, while simultaneously irking defence lawyers and constitutional law experts.
The bill bars Canadians from driving within two hours of having an illegal level of drugs in their system, and gives police the authority to demand saliva samples from drivers they suspect are driving while high. It also proposes mandatory breathalyzer tests for anyone who is lawfully stopped in their car. Today, officers must have a reasonable suspicion of intoxication before asking a driver to blow.
“They can make a demand for a breath sample without having any reason to believe there is any alcohol in the person’s body at all,” Edmonton defence lawyer Steve Smith said in an interview with the CBC. “They can do essentially random roadside tests on drivers.”
Some legal experts believe this provision could violate Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects Canadians against unreasonable searches, but the federal government has insisted that the bill is ‘charter-proof.’ Mandatory roadside testing is already legal in many countries, and “is widely seen as the most effective way of reducing impaired driving deaths,” according to Robert Solomon, MADD Canada’s national legal policy director.
Law enforcement preparation
Law enforcement officers are preparing to navigate the new legal landscape that will emerge with the passing of the government’s impaired driving and marijuana legalization legislation. The Toronto police are training its roughly 200 traffic services officers in field sobriety testing and bolstering its team of drug recognition evaluators.
The OPP, Toronto police and RCMP also recently wrapped up a pilot program to test a roadside drug testing device. More than 200 people volunteered their saliva for the program, nine of whom tested positive.
However, police do not currently have access to a fail-proof marijuana impairment test, and some legal experts, including motor vehicle accident lawyers, remain concerned about law enforcement’s reliance on unproven methods. For instance, traces of cannabis linger in the blood for much longer than alcohol – could an injury victim lose access to compensation if they tested positive for marijuana even after waiting two hours to drive?
Contact Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers
If you have been injured in a car accident caused by drug-impaired driving, contact the motor vehicle accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers today. Our team has years of experience helping injury victims access compensation, and can confidently direct you on your next legal steps.
Photo credit: Rafael Castillo/Flickr
Greg Neinstein
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