Drug Impaired Driving In Canada

Drug-Impaired Driving in Canada is a ready reference for prosecutors, defence lawyers, and the judiciary, covering the matters unique to drug-impaired driving cases. Key areas covered include specimen testing for drugs, specialized experts, new legislation, and caselaw. This text provides a breakdown of the issues that pervade these cases.

Alcohol, Drugs, and Impaired Driving addresses many theoretical and practical issues related to the role played by alcohol and other psychoactive drugs on driving performance, road-traffic safety, and public health. Several key forensic issues are involved in the enforcement of laws regulating driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs, including analytical toxicology, pharmacology of drug action, as well as the relationships between dose taken, concentration levels in the body, and impairment of performance and behavior. Our knowledge of drunken driving is much more comprehensive than drugged driving, so a large part of this book is devoted to alcohol impairment, as well as impairment caused by use of drugs other than alcohol. For convenience, the book is divided into four main sections. The first section gives some historical background about measuring alcohol in blood and breath as evidence for the prosecution of traffic offenders. The important role of the Breathalyzer instrument in traffic-law enforcement, especially in Australia, Canada, and the USA is presented along with a biographical sketch of its inventor (Professor Robert F. Borkenstein of Indiana University) with focus on the man, his work and his impact. The second section discusses several issues related to forensic blood and breath-alcohol alcohol analysis as evidence for prosecution of traffic offenders. This includes how the results should be interpreted in relation to impairment and an evaluation of common defense challenges. Because most countries have adopted concentration per se laws, the main thrust of the prosecution case is the suspect’s measured blood- or breath-alcohol concentration. This legal framework necessitates that the analytical methods used are "fit for purpose" and are subjected to rigorous quality assurance procedures. The third section gives a broad overview of the current state of knowledge about driving under the influence of non-alcohol drugs in various countries. This includes adoption of zero-tolerance laws, concentration per se statutes, and clinical evidence of driver impairment based on field sobriety tests and drug recognition expert evidence. The fourth section deals with epidemiology, enforcement, and countermeasures aimed at reducing the threat of drunken and drugged driving. All articles have appeared previously in the international journal Forensic Science Review, but all are completely updated with current data, references, and the latest research on developments since the articles were published. This book contains a convenient collection of the best articles covering recommendations for blood and breath testing methods, public policy relating to such methods, and forensic and legal implications of the enforcement of measures to counter driving under the influence.

Drugs, Driving and Traffic Safety gives a comprehensive overview of the effects of different medical conditions like neurological disorders, anxiety and depression and their pharmaceutical treatment on driving ability. In addition, the effects of alcohol and drugs of abuse are discussed. Leading experts present the different methodologies to examine effects of drugs on driving, and summarize the recent scientific evidence including epidemiological studies, roadside surveys, laboratory tests, driving simulators, and the standardized driving test. The volume includes guidelines of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety (ICADTS) and the ICADTS Drugs List 2007. Drugs, Driving and Traffic Safety is written for physicians, psychiatrists and pharmacists who want to inform their patients who use psychoactive drugs.

The relative simplicity of per se laws, their widespread acceptance for dealing with alcohol-impaired driving and the demonstrated effectiveness of alcohol per se laws have bolstered the call for similar per se limits to be established for other drugs. [...] In 1951, amendments to the Criminal Code changed driving "under the influence" or "while intoxicated" to driving "while impaired" and the term "narcotic" was expanded to include "any drug."2 Despite the long history of laws on drugs and driving, in the absence of a procedure to systematically assess impairment and collect bodily fluid samples for analysis, it was difficult to gather sufficient and [...] What the Evidence Says A per se law is essentially a legal shortcut used to simplify the adjudication of offenders by eliminating the need to prove the driver's ability to operate a vehicle safely was impaired. [...] In the case of alcohol, without the burden of having to prove the accused was impaired by alcohol, the prosecution can focus on two elements: was the person driving and was his or her BAC in excess of 80 mg/dL. [...] Foremost, the 80 mg/dL limit for alcohol was derived from years of experimental and epidemiologic research demonstrating that this level of alcohol was associated with considerable impairment of many of the skills and abilities necessary for the safe operation of a motor vehicle.

Everyone knows that driving while under the influence of alcohol is dangerous and unacceptable, and there are methods to identify and apprehend those who break the law. Unfortunately, the consequence of driving under the influence of drugs has not been raised until recently, and drugged driving presents new challenges to both law enforcement and health professionals. Amid the devastating opioid crisis and as more states legalize the use of marijuana, tackling this problem is now more important than ever.