Winnipeg police say they're cracking down on drivers impaired by cannabis, other drugs

Winnipeg police say they're concerned about the number of drivers under the influence of cannabis, and they launched an enforcement push this week to focus on those drivers.

The crackdown focused on detecting drivers under the influence of cannabis and other drugs in the city began on Tuesday.

On its first day, about one in four drivers stopped by police had violated cannabis-related laws, police said in a Friday news release.

In 35 traffic stops, there were four positive tests for cannabis — identified through oral fluid tests — and five notices were issued for unlawfully storing the drug.

Cannabis in a vehicle must be stored in the trunk or another space not readily accessible to any person in the vehicle, according to Manitoba's Highway Traffic Act.

The enforcement campaign will include specially trained drug recognition experts who use tools such as drug-screening devices to detect cannabis use, police said.

The City of Winnipeg currently has 12 of those experts, according to the police service.

"This is not the first time we go out and use these tools. This … just happens to be a project that we're reporting on," said Stephane Fontaine, a patrol sergeant with the Winnipeg Police Service traffic division.

"People are choosing to drive even though they've recently consumed cannabis, which is an impairing substance. And that's our concern," he said.

Police are trying to send a message that driving while impaired by drugs is not only dangerous, but also "that we can … detect it, and ultimately deal with it as well," said Fontaine.

'A growing problem': MADD Canada

Steve Sullivan of the Canadian arm of Mothers Against Drunk Driving said drug-impaired driving is a "growing problem."

"At least the last decade, we've seen the increase of drug-impaired driving, we've seen the increase in fatal crashes where the drivers killed had presence of drugs in their system," the MADD Canada CEO said.

"I think the fact that police are out there looking more proactively is very positive, but concerning that they're seeing this many [impairment cases] just on the first day."

Sullivan said alcohol-impaired drivers are more predictable than drug-impaired ones because they're usually out at specific times, such as weekends. Drug-impaired drivers don't have a similar pattern, he said.

Letting the public know police are enforcing the laws may help curb the behaviour, he said.

People "make decisions on whether to drive impaired or not based on their perception that they'll get caught," Sullivan said.

"So if they understand that police are, A, out there looking for them and, B, have the tools to catch them, that will have an impact."

Fontaine said the oral fluid testing devices Winnipeg police use can detect consumption of cannabis in the four to six hours before the test.

Sullivan said that while cannabis can stay in your system a lot longer than alcohol, these types of devices are specifically set up to catch recent use.

"In the Criminal Code, the highest level you can have in your system for ... cannabis is five nanograms," he said.  

"The oral fluid tests are actually set much higher than that [at 25]. If you're at 25 nanograms then ... you've likely used cannabis quite recently."

However, the tests can't be used as evidence in court, so police need to do further tests, he said.