11-02-2004, 08:56 AM
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#42 (permalink)
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Thought I'd bump this thread considering there's new news..
Quote:
By CAMPBELL CLARK
Tuesday, November 2, 2004 - Page A4
OTTAWA -- The federal Liberals revived two controversial law-enforcement bills yesterday, playing down one that would decriminalize marijuana while emphasizing a get-tough plan to catch drug-impaired drivers.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler reintroduced a bill that would allow police officers to demand blood or urine samples from drivers suspected of being impaired by marijuana or other drugs as a companion piece to the revival of efforts to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.
At the same time, he announced $6.8-million to train police officers to conduct the new tests to detect drivers on drugs.
Mr. Cotler avoided any mention of decriminalization -- instead calling his cannabis enforcement reform "alternate penalty frameworks."
The Martin government allowed both bills to languish and die before the spring election, thus sidestepping the qualms of some of its own MPs and the U.S. government, as well as adamant opposition from a minority of voters.
Yesterday, Mr. Cotler argued that measures to make drug-impaired driving tests mandatory will help save lives and said they are no more an infringement on civil rights than roadside breath-analysis tests.
"The whole idea here is to make what is now voluntary, mandatory," Mr. Cotler said. "We're not creating a new offence . . . what is new here is that we are giving the law-enforcement authorities the tools they need to investigate the offence and to ensure that what we do with regard to alcohol impairment, we're going to be doing with regard to drug impairment."
Mr. Cotler insisted he is not giving police officers arbitrary powers, saying the measures are modelled on alcohol-impairment testing and that the courts will find them to fit with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some, including the Canadian Bar Association, have questioned whether allowing police to demand body fluid samples without obtaining a warrant would pass muster in the courts.
No simple, reliable breath test for drugs exists, so police officers will have to be trained to conduct physiological impairment tests, such as asking suspects to stand on one leg. If impairment by a particular drug is indicated, suspects would be given further tests at the police station, indicators such as blood pressure and pulse would be measured -- and then they would have to provide blood or urine, or possibly saliva.
Those samples will not prove that someone was driving while impaired by a drug, however. There are no agreed-on levels of drugs in the system that would cause impairment, similar to the 0.08 blood-alcohol level, and the metabolites of some drugs can be found in the system weeks after they were ingested.
Government and RCMP officials said the fluid samples only add "a piece of the puzzle" once an officer has identified that a driver is impaired and determined that a drug is probably the cause.
Only 123 officers have completed the training to conduct the tests, compared to more than 3,000 who have taken the less extensive Breathalyzer training.
Mr. Cotler announced a $6.8-million fund for training in catching drug-impaired drivers, aimed at tripling the number of qualified officers in three years, but government officials concede that even that will not be enough.
Conservative justice critic Vic Toews said that the money would be better spent developing more reliable tests, and that the decriminalization of marijuana should wait until the tests are available.
The decriminalization bill, which would replace criminal sanctions and jail terms for the possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana with fines akin to those for traffic tickets, is also opposed by the Canadian Professional Police Association, which represents police officers. President Tony Cannavino said the 15-grams cutoff will allow small-time dealers to avoid prosecution. He suggested the bill should decriminalize amounts of only one or two grams.
Mr. Toews said he is concerned that decriminalization will increase demand for pot, and that the supply will come from organized crime. But he also raised fears that the United States, which has opposed the move, will fight back with sanctions that affect Canadian trade.
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This comes from
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...nal/TopStories
(sorry, don't know how to make a link)
And Bush says Kerry's a flip-flopper. I wish they would just get on with it and LEGALIZE the stuff. This flip-flopping has been going on for years...
EDIT: I guess it automatically sets up the link...
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What am i doing on this planet?
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