First, the bad news.
There are a lot of people out there driving while under the influence of drugs.
“Frankly, I was surprised at the number of people using cannabis at any given time throughout the day and night,” said Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) Constable Pat Foster. “When we test drivers during a roadside check, we get a lot of positive readings, meaning they have THC in their system.
“With these testing devices, it’s very easy to detect.”
That’s the good news.
Police officers across the country now have a lot more in the way of technical resources and training to be able to identify, test and charge drug-impaired drivers than they did even a few years ago.
The Corman Park Police Service (CPPS) and Dalmeny Police Service (DPS) are currently training all their offiers in the basic operation of approved drug screening equipment (ADSE).
During a training session at the Corman Park office in Saskatoon in early May, two SPS officers, including Constable Foster; and Dalmeny Police Chief Scott Rowe conducted a crash course in the use of the SoToxa Oral Fluid Collection Device, one of two approved ADSEs currently in use in Canada. (The other ADSE is the Drager DrugTest 5000.) The SPS officers and Dalmeny Police Chief are certified Drug Recognition Experts (DRE), who have extensive training and experience in the field.
Driving while impaired by drugs has been a criminal offense in Canada since 1925. But according to a report released in March, 2021 (Annual national data report to inform trends and patterns in drug-impaired driving – available online at www.publicsafety.gc.ca) by Public Safety Canada, getting a conviction in court has been “challenging to prove.”
In the fall of 2018, when cannabis was legalized in Canada, the federal and provincial governments took steps to beef up enforcement of impaired driving laws related to drugs, particularly cannabis. That required not only legislative amendments, but also more money. The government earmarked $161 million over five years for public education campaigns and police training and equipment.
The education component is clearly needed.
According to the Pubic Safety Canada report on drug-impaired driving, Saskatchewan not only shares the lead with Manitoba for the highest rate of alcohol-impaired driving in the country, it leads the pack when it comes to drivers getting behind the wheel within two hours of having smoked or vaped cannabis.
Several studies cited in the Public Safety Canada report indicate that since cannabis was legalized, the number of drug-impaired driving incidents reported by police has increased.
In 2019, there were 6,453 incidents of driving while impaired by drugs, an increase of 43% from 2018. The report also notes that in 2019, the rate of overall impaired driving incidents involving both alcohol and drugs, often in combination with each other, increased by 19% from 2018.
While alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 85% of all police-reported incidents across Canada, the number of drug-impaired driving incidents is steadily edging up.
On the enforcement side, detection of drugs is done through traditional policing methods, including roadside checkstops and the use of ADSEs and standard field sobriety tests (SFST).
When impaired driving behaviour is detected, additional investigation may be conducted through requesting a DRE and/or blood samples. If the police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver is impaired, criminal charges can be laid and administrative sanctions imposed.
Foster said the SPS currently has four Drager 5000 devices and one SoToxa device. Another half-dozen SoToxa units are on order for the SPS.
Both devices work on the same principle, called a Lateral Flow Immunoassay (LFIA) test. A person’s immune system creates antibodies to protect the body from foreign substances called antigens. Harmful bacteria is an example of an antigen. If an antigen such as THC enters the immune system, it will react with the antibodies. By testing a sample of oral fluid from a person, the devices are able to detect whether certain types of antigens, including cocaine and THC, have reacted with the immune system’s antibodies. If there is a positive reaction, the cartridge containing the oral sample inserted into the device undergoes a colour change.
A positive reading with the device indicates the presence of specific drugs above a certain cutoff level. Further investigation, such as a blood sample or examination by a DRE, is then undertaken.
The Dalmeny Police Service has been using a SoToxa testing device since March. Of the six roadside tests conducted as of early May by the DPS, every one has resulted in a positive reading, according to Rowe.
“I have yet to get a negative result,” said Rowe, adding the test is only used if the police officer has “reasonable grounds” to suspect the driver is impaired by drugs. Based on his many years of training as a DRE, Rowe is adept at recognizing drug-related symptoms, such as red eyes, muscle tremors, agitation and abnormal speech patterns, displayed by drivers.
“I can pretty much tell before I even put him on the machine that he’s going to test positive,” said Rowe.
Foster said the high number of ADSE positive tests reflect the police officer’s ability to detect symptoms.
“The tests reaffirm our suspicions,” said Foster.
Foster said cannabis and other drugs have been a problem for years, but the legalization of cannabis prompted the push to have additional testing devices and training.
“The ADSEs are another tool to help during an investigation,” he said.
Corman Park Police Chief Warren Gherasim said training officers in the use of ADSEs is similar to their training in the use of devices used to detect alcohol-impaired drivers. (The interview at the training session was held May 7, prior to Gherasim stepping down as Police Chief on May 18.)
But, he added, there are more legal considerations to be taken into account. ADSEs cannot be used under the CPPS mandatory screening policy, which requires all drivers stopped after 6:00 p.m., regardless of the cause, to undergo a roadside breath test for alcohol. That’s why a police officer needs to be well-trained to recognize potential drug-impairment symptoms.
“Right now our focus is on getting everybody trained in the use of the devices,” said Gherasim. “Once we have that foundation, we’d like to have more officers certified as DREs, so we have that whole pyramid of skill sets.”