If you’ve been decking the halls with tokes of cannabis, it’s probably best to get Santa or one of his elves to give you a ride home.
Although it is the season to be merry, it is also CheckStop season and there are some things cannabis consumers should know to keep everyone safe on the road. But how exactly do officers screen for drugs?
Cannabis significantly impacts crucial functions when it comes to operating a motor vehicle, according to the Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis website, as it impairs depth perception, concentration, and attention span. On top of that, it slows reaction time and decreases muscle strength, all of which make it difficult to be aware on the road and appropriately respond to hazards.
A person impaired by drugs on the road is going to go through a similar process as those impaired by alcohol.
Acting Cpl. Allan Mayer of the St. Albert RCMP traffic unit said the first thing they watch out for is driving patterns.
“When I pull somebody over, I've already determined that there's an issue there. But what's the issue? Are they on their phone? Are they impaired by drugs? Are they impaired by alcohol?” he said.
After that, he asks them for their registration, insurance, and driver's licence and watches to see how the person responds — if they open their wallet and go directly to their driver’s licence or if they go through all their cards and hand him, say, a credit card.
“I've gotten credit cards for driver's licences,” said Mayer.
Mayer said cannabis smokers tend to smell like cannabis, which also gives them a clue about the cause of the driver’s impairment.
After observing how a person is acting, Mayer said officers will normally do a roadside demand with an approved screening device.
“That's the little handheld device. You're blowing that and most times what I find is, most people it's not just cannabis, it's a combination. So, they'll have some alcohol on board,” he said.
The device will give officers three responses and if the person shows signs of impairment but blows a safe number, officers will move on to the next step.
“You're going, ‘This guy is goobered.’ But the number I'm getting, it doesn't make sense. But I'm getting a whiff of cannabis. So now what we do is OK, so obviously he's not impaired by alcohol. He's impaired by something else,” said Mayer.
Mayer said they will call in an officer trained as an SFST, which stands for Standard Field Sobriety Test.
“That's the one you see on TV all the time because all our police shows come from the [United] States, where they do the finger thing and they check your eyes and then they make you walk the line and stand on one leg,” he explained.
This test is a pass/fail test. If the person passes, they are good to go. If they fail, the arresting officer has to make another call.
"The SFST right now is basically an approved screening device for drugs, OK? So, if they fail that, [and] we know he's not impaired by alcohol, but he's impaired by something else … then the arresting officer goes, ‘Oh, great. Now I have to get my hands on another officer, and that's the drug recognition expert,” said Mayer.
These tests are usually blood or urine samples and they are sent to a lab. Mayer said it takes about 45 minutes to get results back from the drug recognition test and that test will tell them what drugs are in the person’s system, which, Mayer said, is normally a cocktail of drugs.
Cannabis, like alcohol, has limits on the amount that is allowed to be in a person’s system, but if mixed with alcohol those limits are lowered.
“Alcohol actually amplifies the effects of the cannabis,” said Mayer.
People also need to be aware that cannabis impairs each person differently based on methods of consumption — whether it was smoked, inhaled, or ingested, how much cannabis was consumed, and also how much THC is in the product.
A federal website on drug-impaired driving states: “There is no guidance to drivers about how much cannabis can be consumed before it is unsafe to drive or how long a driver should wait to drive after consuming cannabis.”
Mayer said for smoking people should wait at least three hours before they can possibly drive safe, although he suggests staying home and relaxing. When it comes to edibles, “Just stay home.”
Edibles are scary, said Mayer, because people don’t necessarily follow the recommended dosages and it takes time for the THC to go through the system and for people to feel the effects.
“You don't just eat one gummy bear. You grab a handful of gummy bears, so that's what happens, is people fall back on their habits,” he said.
“It takes a while for that to go through their system — it takes at least 20 minutes. And so, while they're eating their edible, they're like, ‘How come I don't feel anything? I need another one. How come I still don't feel anything?’ And next thing you know they have a whole bunch in their system and then it hits them and it's like a hammer,” he explained.
Mayer said another issue with edibles is a person can be impaired for quite a long time. Edibles need to be digested and they need to go through a person’s system and how high a person gets and how long they stay high depends on how fast the THC gets digested and goes through the system, whether or not a person has eaten anything else, and how much has been consumed.
Overall, Mayer said if you have plans to go out and get impaired, have plans to get home.
“There's really no excuse if you're planning on going out and getting impaired. Figure out a way of getting home before you get impaired.”
