RCMP in the Northwest Territories have begun using roadside cannabis control technology that has faced criticism from defense lawyers elsewhere in Canada. Mountains in the region announced late last month that they had developed devices designed to take a saliva sample and test for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. They said the technology would help them identify impaired drivers and make the roads safer. However, some criminal defense attorneys have raised concerns about the ability of these devices to provide reliable test results, particularly at low temperatures. They argue that the technology is not effective in determining whether someone is impaired. “It can lead to the arrest of people who are actually innocent,” said Kyla Lee, a Vancouver-based lawyer. Lee said research has shown the devices may be more likely to give false results in extreme cold temperatures, and movement during the analysis could also affect the results. He added that while the devices can give either a positive or negative test result, they do not indicate how much THC may be in a person’s bloodstream. Lee recently represented a woman from Nova Scotia in a constitutional challenge to the law allowing roadside drug screening technology in Canada. Michelle Gray, who uses cannabis for multiple sclerosis, had her car impounded and her license suspended for a week after failing a cannabis saliva test at a checkpoint in 2019, despite passing a field sobriety test the same night. “The technology just isn’t there yet to allow police to determine drug impairment using physical equipment,” Lee said. Lee is awaiting a decision on the constitutional challenge in Nova Scotia. He said he expects there will be further legal challenges in other Canadian jurisdictions where these devices are used, including the Northwest Territories. There are two devices approved for roadside cannabis testing in Canada: the Drager DrugTest 5000 and the Abbott SoToxa mobile testing system. The companies that manufacture the devices recommend their use at temperatures not lower than 4 C and 5 C, respectively. Cpl. Andree Sieber of the Regina Police Service, which began using devices on the road to detect cannabis use in early 2020, said officers bring drivers in their vehicles for testing to rule out problems with weather or temperatures. . “We’ve used it all season here in Regina,” he said. “We have very cold winters and some very nasty, snowy cold days and you have the person back in your vehicle with you where they warm up and it’s not a problem.” Sieber said the more THC a person has consumed, the more likely they are to show signs of impairment and test positive. The RCMP said the roadside screening devices are just one tool they use to identify and investigate drug-impaired drivers alongside officer observations. They said field sobriety tests and drug recognition experts remain the main enforcement tools. “Officers rely on what they see and hear as well as what they smell when investigating impaired drivers,” the RCMP said in a written statement. “Regardless of how a drug is consumed, there are signs of that consumption and the police are trained to recognize them.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 13, 2022. This story was produced with financial assistance from Meta and the Canadian Press News Fellowship.
