Drivers would prevent the justice

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Motorists who smoked pot behind the wheel could never be accused, in the absence of police experts that can collect evidence.

Amélie St-Yves

Friday, 16 February 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Friday, 16 February 2018 01:00

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NICOLET | drivers drugged driving may well evade justice in the first few months following the legalisation of cannabis, because there will not be enough police experts capacities are impaired by drugs.

When the pot would be legal, almost all of the patrol officers will themselves be able to order a blood test, because they have enough police experts capacities are impaired by the drug to evaluate the world.

However, we still do not know who will be allowed to do these blood tests, we learned yesterday, during a day of study on pot and driving at the national police academy in Nicolet.

Photo Amélie St-Yves

The expert-legal council of the École nationale de police in Nicolet, Maxime Laroche, and director of institutional affairs and communications, Pierre St-Antoine, during a day of updating of knowledge on pot and driving.

Currently, there are 97 police experts capacities are impaired by the drug, in Quebec, also referred to as agents evaluators. There should be a minimum of 36 more by the legalization of cannabis for the province as a whole.

They are trained to assess the severity of the symptoms that the drugs are among the suspects and mount a proof in the concrete for the court.

“Is it that we need more agents appraisers ? The answer is yes, and the school will do everything to increase its training capacity in there, ” said the director, institutional affairs and communications École nationale de police du Québec (ENPQ), Pierre St-Antoine.

White line

Currently, the ENPQ is a lot of emphasis on the tests of coordination, such as walking on a white line and touch the tip of the nose, but this is not enough to stop someone.

“When a patroller quebec will have suspicions after the hardships of coordination of movements, he can remove you from the road. There may be no charge at the end of the account, but in terms of road safety, it is important for the safety of Quebec, ” says Pierre St-Antoine.

Two ways

There will be two ways to stop a driver drugged driving after legalizing marijuana. A police expert capacities are impaired by drugs will be able to examine the suspect and require the taking of blood or urine.

The second method is to go directly to the blood if the suspect fails the test of coordination of movements. The proof will be less complete without a police expert to explain how the driving abilities of the suspect were affected.

The police will be able to pass a breathalyzer test even without suspicion

The patrol will be here around six-month order for drivers to pass a breathalyzer test, even if it has no eyes glassy and does not smell of alcohol.

The revision of the law on offences relating to transport, which is currently under review in Ottawa gives more power to the patrol in regards to drinking and driving.

Not discriminatory

No longer will they have to have symptoms to impaired driving to request a driver to pass a breathalyzer test.

“If the patrol officer exercises his or her functions as a police officer and that the individual drove a motor vehicle, he may ask to pass an approved screening device [breathalyzer] even without the smell of alcohol or admission of consumption “, explains the expert-legal council of the École nationale de police in Nicolet, Maxime Laroche, who stresses that the application should not be discriminatory.

This measure will come into force 180 days after the governor general of Canada, Julie Payette, will put his royal seal on the new law.

This period might start prior to the legalisation of cannabis, because the bill is currently before the Senate, which is one of the last steps.