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Imagine someone is pulled over by police. A breathalyzer test comes back showing the driver has a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .07, just under the legal limit of .08.
Now, imagine Canada has decided to copy the U.S. state of Colorado’s regulations on THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana. In Colorado, anyone with more than 5 nanograms of active THC in their blood can be charged with driving under the influence.
Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill said he wants to know what happens when that driver, already found to be driving with a .07 BAC, also has 4 nanograms of THC in his blood. Technically, the driver is just under the legal limits set for both substances.
“But the issue is those two combined, the alcohol and the marijuana, does that put you in an impaired spot?” Weighill asked 650 CKOM host David Kirton.
Weighill said these types of tricky hypotheticals will have to be addressed as the federal government pushes ahead with legalization.
A federal task force released a report Tuesday with recommendations on how Canada’s legal marijuana market ought to be structured.
The report recommended retail sales of marijuana to people over the age of 18, with supplies available in storefront locations and by mail order. People should also be allowed to grow up to four of their own marijuana plants, according to the report.
Weighill said he would reserve judgment on the report until he has a chance to read the full document. But he said impaired driving remains his biggest concern, given that there is no test to determine impairment by alcohol and marijuana in combination. He said there are also difficulties with detecting if someone’s been smoking pot, as there is no quick, accurate roadside test.
“We have a great system set up for alcohol. Alcohol is pretty well the same on most human bodies, at a .08 or so you start to become impaired. But it’s different with marijuana,” he said.
Weighill said, realistically, legalization likely wouldn’t take effect until 2018. He said he hopes to see efforts continue to develop better technology to test drivers.
