Mairjuana use leads to impaired driving

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  With the legalization of marijuana just around the corner, many Canadians are getting ready to celebrate the end of prohibition.
  
  Although decriminalization is a welcome development to many, some may be less enthused about the accompanying amendments to the Criminal Code’s drug-impaired driving offences.
  
  Given some marijuana user’s current attitudes to driving under the influence, legislative intervention in this area is warranted. According to a survey by Health Canada, only half of respondents who consumed cannabis in the past year felt that marijuana use affects driving.
  
  Here is a reality check: several studies have shown that marijuana can impair essential driving skills, such as reaction time and the ability to multi-task. These skills can make the difference between a near miss and an accident. Driving while impaired by marijuana is a behaviour our society cannot condone.
  
  More controversial is the manner in which parliament is trying to address the problem. Drug-impaired driving offences are difficult to prosecute because impairment can be difficult to prove. Lawmakers made it easier to prosecute alcohol-impaired driving by making it a criminal offence to drive with more than 0.08 mg of alcohol/100 ml of blood – an objective, measurable limit with a scientifically proven link to a person’s ability to drive. Instead of having to prove impairment, the prosecution could use a shortcut and just prove blood alcohol content.
  
  Parliament is now proposing a similar approach with marijuana by legislating a limit for THC, with two nanograms per millilitre of blood as a limit for a summary offence and five ng/ml for a more serious indictable offence.
  
  The problem with this approach is that unlike alcohol, there is no scientific consensus regarding a correlation between the amount of THC in the bloodstream and a driver’s level of impairment. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, although the research in this area has demonstrated the potential of marijuana to impair driving related skills, it does not show a relationship between THC levels and impairment. In particular, low THC levels can result from relatively recent use, when some impairment is likely to be present, or it can result from chronic use where there is no recent ingestion and no impairment. In other words, a person can have THC in his or her bloodstream and not be impaired.
  
  The upshot of all this is that there is a real possibility for people who are legally consuming marijuana and being careful to not drive while impaired being needlessly criminalized.
  
  The consequences are serious. Under the proposed laws, a first-time offender caught with a blood THC content of at least two ng/ml but less than five ng/ml would be subject to a criminal record, a driving prohibition, and a fine of up to $1,000. Those caught with higher levels could be subject to further punishment, such as imprisonment and mandatory driving prohibitions.
  
  Even the Federal Government admits that “the science is unable to provide general guidance to drivers about how much cannabis can be consumed before it is unsafe to drive or before the proposed levels would be exceeded.” How are people supposed to know if they are following the law in these circumstances?
  
  Because they risk criminalizing the innocent, these new laws could one day be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada, but until that happens responsible, safe drivers could face life-changing criminal sanctions. Our society needs to address drug-impaired driving, but the solution needs to fit the science and not unfairly punish those who are not part of the problem.
  
  A separate but related development is the introduction in British Columbia of a 90-day immediate roadside prohibition for marijuana-impaired driving. These laws deal with administrative rather than criminal sanctions, so different considerations apply, but there is still a concern that drivers who are not impaired could nonetheless be prohibited from driving as a result of this program.
  
  If you are charged with an impaired driving offence seek immediate legal advice.