The New Drug and Alcohol Impaired Driving Laws are Now in Effect

July 17, 2018, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

The province’s impaired driving laws were changed effective last month. Bill C-46 reformed the alcohol-impaired driving and drug-impaired driving law giving police more power and new tools. This overhaul has been anticipated for a while and in part are in response to the legalization of recreational marijuana use. The reforms also address some short comings of the alcohol impaired laws. The Bill also made some technical changes which will help the courts deal with impaired driving cases in a timelier manner than they are now.

The changes included three substantial and controversial things that we should all be aware of.

Roadside Saliva Testing

With the legalization of recreational marijuana use police have now been granted the permission to use new roadside screening devices to test saliva for the presence of THC, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This test can only be used if the police have reasonable cause to believe that the individual has been using drugs.

These tests are still awaiting approval as they are being tested independently. Currently we don not have a date for approval of the tests.

THC Blood Levels

The government will be setting a limit for THC in the blood which will allow police to charge individuals based solely on a driver’s blood THC level. No other test of impairment will need to be established. This is the same for alcohol impairment.

This will likely face court challenges as the linkage between blood THC levels and impairment is not as clear as with blood alcohol levels. Speculation is that medical marijuana users will lead the challenges here.

The proposed limits and penalties are as follow:

• THC levels of 2 to 5 ng would result in a lower level offence and a fine up to $1000
• THC levels over 5 ng would result in the same penalties as alcohol-impaired driving convictions with mandatory minimum penalties of a $1000 fine on a first offence, 30 days imprisonment for a second offence, and 120 days imprisonment on a third offence
• A mixture of a THC level above 2.5 ng and a blood alcohol concentration above 0.05 would carry the same penalties as above.

Roadside Breath Testing

Beginning in December the police will be permitted to require a roadside breath test for any driver. They will no longer require reasonable suspicion of alcohol consumption. If a driver refuses this test they may be charged with a criminal charge and penalty similar to impaired driving.  This change is opposed by many civil liberty advocates who argued that it violates Canadian’s Charter rights, and that it can easily be result in profiling by the police – resulting in racial or age profiling.  

This approach has been used successfully in many other democracies and has been associated with dramatic reduction in impaired driving rates in those countries. The government is confident that the new provision will survive any court challenges.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

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