POLICY REPORT
PUBLIC SAFETY
Date: July 31, 1995
Dept. File No.: PRA 95-006
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Chief Constable
SUBJECT: Impaired Driving Legislation
RECOMMENDATION
THAT City Council forward a resolution to the Solicitor General of
Canada to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to empower police to
seize evidence to support charges of impaired driving by drugs.
CHIEF CONSTABLE'S COMMENTS
The Chief Constable RECOMMENDS approval of the foregoing.
COUNCIL POLICY
There is no relevant Council Policy.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to obtain Council's endorsement of a
resolution to recommend to the Solicitor General of Canada that the
Criminal Code of Canada be amended. The amendment empowers police to
demand suitable samples to enable toxicological analyses to provide
evidence in support of charges of impaired driving due to drug
impairment.
BACKGROUND
Police officers have the legal authority to demand a breath sample when
they have reasonable grounds to believe that a driver's ability to
operate a motor vehicle is impaired by alcohol. Although the Criminal
Code includes impairment by drugs, police officers do not have legal
authority to issue a demand for suitable samples of blood, breath or
urine to enable drug analysis. The demand for breath samples is made to
uninjured drivers impaired by alcohol. Police officers may demand blood
samples from hospitalized injured drivers when alcohol impairment is
suspected, provided the suspect is conscious. A warrant to seize blood
samples may be obtained for unconscious, injured drivers who are
hospitalized. Impairment by drugs is not included in the blood demand
and blood samples may be tested for alcohol impairment only.
The Canadian Association of Forensic Scientists, Drugs and Driving
subcommittee, supports amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada to
enable the police and the courts to apprehend and prosecute drivers
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impaired by drugs. The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia has
committed to a program to sponsor police officers at a Drug Recognition
Trainers' course in the United States. The Drug Recognition Experts
develop sufficient expertise to determine, with a high degree of
statistical probability, the drug family a suspect has used based upon
analysis of observed symptoms. With this information, costly toxicology
tests can be narrowed to search for specific suspected drugs. Through
this drug identification process, enforcement is streamlined, accuracy
improved and impaired drivers taken off the road provided police
officers can also demand samples of blood or urine to enable
toxicological tests to measure for the presence of drugs.
The United Kingdom Road Traffic Act allows Police officers to demand
blood, breath and/or urine samples when the Constable has reasonable
grounds to believe a driver's ability to operate a motor vehicle is
impaired by alcohol or drug. The demand is very broad based, covering
every possibility, at the initial stages. Impaired drivers are often
under the influence of both alcohol and drugs; therefore, the suspect's
breathalyser reading is low, while physical symptoms indicate moderate
to severe impairment. If a suspect's breathalyser reading is low, the
Constable then provides the driver the option of providing a blood or
urine sample, with the Constable having the final authority to determine
which it is to be. A Police Surgeon is then called in to obtain blood
samples, if blood is the chosen sample. Urine samples are seized using
appropriate test tube vials. Failure to provide samples of any type is,
as in Canadian legislation with breath samples, a criminal offence.
Despite the current extensive Counterattack campaigns to prevent
impaired driving, the percentage of impaired drivers apprehended,
compared to those actually impaired by alcohol, may be only 10%.
Alcohol metabolizes in a person's body relatively quickly compared to
drugs, some of which remain for days, impairing a driver's ability to
operate a motor vehicle. Should that person also consume alcohol, with
drugs in their system, the alcohol enhances the degree of impairment to
a dangerous level. It is difficult to assess how widespread a problem
impairment by drugs actually is due to the lack of legislation and
enforcement statistics. Drug impairment is analyzed in fatal vehicle
crashes where post-mortem toxicology tests are done. Extrapolating the
ICBC data from fatalities to injury, non-injury and property damage only
crashes, drug impairment may be involved in 20% of all vehicle crashes
in British Columbia. If drivers not involved in a crash, but impaired
by drugs, equal those impaired by alcohol who are not apprehended, the
magnitude of the problem is severe.
ICBC Vehicle crash data from 1991 identifies drugs were involved in
10,200 crashes, representing 20% of 227 fatalities, with a cost for
death, injury and property damage totalling $125,300,750. "There
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is a constant relationship between alcohol and drug use within crash
categories and a decrease in that use correlates with a decrease in
crash severity. Drugs other than alcohol play a significant role in the
generation of driver impairment and traffic crashes."1
SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS
An amendment to the Criminal Code of Canada enabling police officers to
effectively deal with impaired drivers, regardless of the source of
impairment, will make the streets safer for all citizens. Enhancing the
ability of the police to detain all impaired drivers, ultimately reduces
the number of motor vehicle crashes, fatalities and property damage.
This improves the quality of life for everyone with fewer deaths and
injuries as well as lower Health care, emergency service and insurance
costs associated with motor vehicle crashes.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no financial implications associated to this resolution.
IMPLEMENTATION AND COMMUNICATION PLAN
Implementation of this resolution is through communication to the
Solicitor General.
CONCLUSION
A Criminal Code amendment is recommended to impaired driving legislation
to enable police officers to demand blood, breath and/or urine samples
for analysis of alcohol and/or drugs. New legislation allowing police
officers to decide what type of samples shall be obtained is designed to
facilitate prosecutions of offenders. The addition of urinalysis to
impaired driving sections of the Criminal Code will enable prosecution
of impaired drivers without such an invasive procedure as drawing blood
samples. The section of the Criminal Code dealing with refusal to
provide breath samples would expand to include refusal to provide blood
or urine samples.
With the prevalence of drug use, in a society dependant on motor
vehicles, it is essential that police be empowered with laws that allow
effective enforcement to reduce the death, injury and financial expense
from impaired driving.
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1.
Mercer, G. William, Ph.D., An Estimation of the Presence of
Alcohol and Drugs in Traffic Accidents in British Columbia.
December 1994
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