Sask. vows zero tolerance for people who drive high

REGINA People caught driving high on Saskatchewan roads will face similar consequences as those driving drunk.

With the federal government set to legalize marijuana in 2018, the province is introducing changes that will allow for the use of drug-detection devices by police officers who suspect a person behind the wheel has used narcotics.

If found to be on drugs, people will face similar consequences as they do now for driving while intoxicated.

If charges are laid, a driver can have their licence immediately suspended and their vehicle seized for 30-60 days.

There are also administrative charges through SGI, including a one- to five-year driving suspension, fines up to $2,500 and requirements to complete an educational program.

SGI Minister Joe Hargrave said

using drug recognition devices for roadside testing will increase the chances of conviction.

By having a zero-tolerance rule in place for people who are driving while on drugs, Hargrave is hoping to slow Saskatchewan’s high rates of impaired driving. Zero tolerance, in the province’s view, essentially means any level of cannabis detected in someone’s system by a federally approved screening test.

“The science behind the alcohol impaired driving has been around a long time, the science behind the cannabis, or drug impaired driving, hasn’t been around for very long,” he said when asked about the rationale behind the zero tolerance.

A little over 65 per cent of people agreed or strongly agreed that the same penalties for alcoholimpaired driving should apply to drug impaired driving in a survey done by the province.

“Impaired driving is impaired driving,” said Hargrave, noting officers will have to have sufficient reason for stopping someone for impaired driving and that he doesn’t care if it is legal drugs, illegal drugs or alcohol, because “we cannot have impaired drivers on the road.”

Introduced Tuesday, this is the first legislation introduced by the province in response to the federal government’s long-standing agenda to legalize cannabis.

It’s expected other pieces of legislation will be introduced before July 1 when marijuana becomes legal, but when the province will do so remains unclear. The current legislative session ends on Dec. 6. It is not out of the realm of possibility for the province to introduce at least one more piece of legislation related to the file before then.

There have been hints the province will allow the private market to sell marijuana, but still unknown is the age in which people will be able to legally consume the products sold by vendors.

Already the province has spent considerable time contemplating the impending legalization of cannabis on July 1. Saskatchewan and other provinces asked the federal government for more time to prepare, despite the move being telegraphed

Impaired driving is impaired driving ... we cannot have impaired drivers on the road.

for several years.

The federal Liberals campaigned on the issue in the 2015 election. After they won a majority government, they stated their intent to legalize cannabis before 2019, before tabling legislation allowing for that earlier this year.