Experts talk drug-impaired drivers at Police Commission meeting
By JEREMY APPEL on December 20, 2019.
jappel@medicinehatnews.com
The Medicine Hat Police Commission heard a presentation Thursday on driving under the influence, with an emphasis on drug impairment.
Const. Darren Holeha, one of two certified drug recognition experts on the force, spoke of the methods by which traffic officers can test for drug impairment, which have been in effect since June 2018 in anticipation of cannabis legalization.
If a driver is pulled over and appears to be drug impaired, there are a series of tests police have at their disposal to determine whether they’re intoxicated.
“We don’t have an actual instrument to test. I’m the instrument, basically,” said Holeha.
Qualified officers can conduct a standardized field sobriety test at the roadside, which have three variations and are standardized across the continent, he said.
First is the horizontal gaze nystagmus, which focuses on the driver’s eyes.
“We have lots of things in our eyes when we’re impaired by alcohol or drugs that we don’t know are happening, but we cannot control,” Holeha said, specifically referring to “involuntary movement or jerking of the eyes.”
Next is the walk-and-turn test to see whether the individual can follow basic directions by asking them to take nine steps forward and nine steps back.
“If you’re impaired by a substance of any kind, you might listen to my instructions, but then you might not be able to divide your attention and actually do that,” said Holeha.
“You might get halfway through the test and forget what you’re doing … It’s quite a thing to see when people get lost because of cognitive impairment.”
Finally, officers will test the person’s balance by having them stand on one leg.
Holeha said these tests have been in existence since the 1970s and are admissible as evidence in court.
Since June 2018, police have laid 20 drug impaired driving charges, 14 of which occurred this year, he said.
Three have gone to court and each one resulted in a guilty plea, Holeha added.
“Today in Alberta, it seems kind of odd, but there’s never been a case where they’ve gone to court, they’ve had the whole testimony of the officer, cross-examination and everything, and the judge has had to make a decision,” he said. “Eventually we’re going to have a whole trial with a verdict.”
According to Holeha, two of these convictions were for cannabis impairment and the third was methamphetamine.
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