The question is, how will blood drug concentration be measured?
First off, Bill C-46 would include a provision clarifying whether roadside statements made by those pulled over by law enforcement are admissible in a court of law. While they may not be used to prove impaired driving in a trial, it can be used to justify the need for an Approved Screening Device test. There are some saliva tests available, and the federal government is using them in pilot projects across the country, committing $161 million over the next five years to help train and equip officers, but they’ve been met with resistance. According to a CBC news article entitled “Companies to capitalize on coming crackdown against drugged drivers”, Canada’s Department of Justice has commissioned a scientific evaluation of drug-screening devices from two manufacturers that have been given the green light to move forward to the next stage in the approvals process. Those include Securetec’s “DrugWipe” product, and Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT) “Alere DDS2” mobile testing devices which purport to offer results in 3-8 minutes, according to the Public Safety Canada’s “Final Report on the Oral Fluid Drug Screening Device Pilot Project”. The results of the finding can be found in this report. But overall, of the 1141 oral fluid samples taken, around 15% delivered a positive drug reading, cannabis being the most commonly detected drug.
221