pbrown@mollp.com
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With recent reports showing an increase in drug-impaired driving in Toronto, critical injury lawyer Patrick Brown tells Metro News that he is concerned the federal government will legalize marijuana before technology is available to test for impairment at the roadside.
“We’ve had a horrific problem with deaths and injuries on the road because of alcohol and the last thing you want to do is promote more people on the road being impaired,” says Brown, a partner with McLeish Orlando LLP.
As Metro News reports, Toronto police recently released data showing 25 drivers have been charged with impaired driving due to drug use in 2016, up 150 per cent over this time last year.
The article notes that there is no breathalyzer for detecting narcotics or prescription drugs, but instead, officers are trained to spot and assess impairment and can take drivers to a police station for examination by a specialist in assessing drug use, or order a urine sample.
As Brown explains: “I’m not going to say we should continue the criminalization of marijuana, but before there’s legalization of any drug, the government must ensure they have the proper procedures to test, whether it’s through saliva or something else, whether people are impaired.”
