Ahead of legalization, police still worried about how to deal people who drive while high

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OTTAWA – Ahead of marijuana legalization expected this summer, police departments across the country are still concerned about how to deal with people who smoke pot before driving.

Toronto Police Superintendent Scott Baptist says the issue lies with determining the level of impairment.

“Unfortunately, the science behind that is still emerging,” he explains. “That is the biggest challenge that we have because the toxicology of alcohol in the body is very, very different than the toxicology of cannabis or other drugs. The science is, unfortunately, not keeping up. And we need the science to help inform decisions like that.”

“There’s still a great deal of work that has to go into that, and it may not all be in place when the legalization comes,” he adds.

Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supterintendent Chuck Cox says it’s not yet clear how legalization will affect day-to-day operations for police services.

But he says based on other jurisdictions’ experiences, it’s fair to assume that drug-impaired driving will go up and police will need to train more officers to detect drug impairment, which can be costly.

Police have been one of the key holdups in legalizing recreational cannabis.

The Liberals initially promised to legalize it by July, but now say the deadline will be pushed back by several weeks, in part to give police authorities time to prepare for the new law.

Cox says police are already working to “make training more readily available and reduce costs.”

Right now, it seems most provincial governments will take a zero-tolerance approach to cannabis and driving.

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