Just two cannabis-impaired charges laid thus far
By JEREMY APPEL on June 22, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com@MHNJeremyAppel The Medicine Hat Police Service have arrested just two people for cannabis-impaired driving since legalization in October 2018. This constitutes half the drug-impaired driving charges laid in the time span, Insp. Brent Secondiak told the Medicine Hat Police Commission at its Thursday night meeting. The other two were for driving under the influence of methamphetamine and prescription medication. Secondiak said the numbers show that pot legalization has gone relatively smoothly. “We prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. I think it’s been positive. There’s been very little issues with the legalization of cannabis,” he said. This could likely change with the upcoming legalization of edibles, Secondiak warned. “You don’t know until you get there. We’re hoping that it’s exactly the same as smoked cannabis, but the effects are different,” he said. “Only time will time, but we’re hoping that if people choose to consume anything – cannabis or otherwise – they’ll be wise about it and not drive.” Secondiak said it’s too early to know how successful prosecutions of cannabis-impaired driving will be, since the two cases are going through the court system. “Impaired driving is probably the most litigated section of the Criminal Code, even impaired driving with alcohol,” he said. “Until we have some data over time, it’s almost impossible to tell.” In addition to the two criminal charges for pot-impaired driving, police have issued two 24-hour driving suspensions for cannabis impairment since legalization, one of which was to the driver involved in a collision that led to his car being flipped over last week. Police told the News at the time that a driving suspension is issued instead of a Criminal Code charge when the driver fails only part of the Standard Field Sobriety Test. The test has three components – an eye test, a balance test and walk-and-turn test. If they fail all three, they’re taken to the police station for further testing and charged criminally. 15-14
