Drivers impaired by alcohol and cannabis on same list

Niagara Regional Police have no plans to modify their weekly list of alleged impaired drivers to indicate whether those accused were believed to be under the influence of alcohol or cannabis at the time of their arrest.

For the past five years, the police service has posted on its website and social media pages names of people charged with getting behind the wheel with booze, weed or other drugs in their system.

With cannabis legalization nearly a month underway, The Tribune asked the NRP if a new list will be created — or if there will be any indication of what motorists are alleged to be impaired by when their name makes the list.

An interview with the traffic enforcement unit could not be arranged, but NRP spokeswoman Stephanie Sabourin said “they will not be differentiated between drug or alcohol impaired.”

She said the list has always been released to name impaired drivers and that there has never been any differentiation between alcohol and various substances.

Andrew Murie, chief executive officer of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada, said national and provincial data is fed to his organization from police agencies across the Canada that does decipher if booze or marijuana is involved, but he has no issue with how police in Niagara will continue to handle their naming approach.

“We definitely support it. You shouldn’t be driving impaired,” he said.

He also said that tests done at the scene of arrests when drivers blow over the legal limit of alcohol consumption mostly provide immediate results, but drug charges often involve further analysis at a laboratory.

“They don’t usually have a comprehensive look at it like they do for alcohol,” said Murie.

“Some of the things they send off to the lab, they might charge somebody then withdraw it later,” he added.

Considered a form of public shaming by some people, the weekly list of allegedly impaired drivers can also be seen as a deterrent.

“If they’re thinking about that and they decide not to drive impaired, the whole process has worked,” said Murie said. “There’s no downside to it.”

People who are prescribed marijuana for medicinal purposes should seek advice from their physician about dosage before hopping in their vehicle, Murie recommended.

“It doesn’t give you permission to drive impaired. It doesn’t matter is you have a medical certificate or not,” he said.

Federal legislation put in place earlier this year creates three new offences for having a prohibited concentration of drugs in the blood within two hours of driving.

A summary conviction offence will be handed out to drivers with two nanograms but less than five nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood in their system.

There is also a hybrid offence for five nanograms or more of THC per millilitre of blood, and another for a combination of 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml blood plus 2.5 nanograms or more of THC per 1 ml of blood.