A welcomed crackdown on impaired driving;
St. Catharines Standard Editorial
July 18, 2008

Driving is a difficult, dangerous and potentially lethal task.

It requires constant attention and concentration to ensure awareness of all the surroundings, including other vehicles on the road, pedestrians and wildlife.

Anything that can hamper one's judgment while behind the wheel is a threat to not only the individual driving, but also to anyone or anything in the vicinity.

Which is why changes that make it a criminal offence for suspected drug-impaired drivers to refuse roadside sobriety tests are welcome.

Tougher laws that took effect July 2 also expand powers for police to take suspected drugged drivers to the police station for more intensive

Public safety trumps privacy concerns when it comes to rules of the road testing or to give blood, urine or saliva samples.

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, the Niagara Falls MP, said the tougher approach to impaired driving will also make it harder for drivers to challenge alcohol breathalyzer tests in court.

Before the new law was enacted, police officers were required to tell drivers suspected of being high on drugs that a sobriety test isn't mandatory, and that the results of the test could be used against them.

The suspect had the option to decline the test.

No more.

The new law also carries stiffer sentences for those convicted of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

A minimum $1,000 fine is now in place for a first offence, a minimum of 30 days in jail for a second offence and 120 days in jail if caught a third time.

"I think most of the people in this country would agree with me that the consequences of driving while impaired with drugs are so great, so stark and so open to tragedy," Nicholson said. "I think this is a reasonable response."

It certainly is.

Never mind that using drugs is illegal to begin with. Driving while high is extremely dangerous and puts lives at risk, and no argument about an invasion of privacy can justify that risk.

Drugs, like alcohol, alter an individual's state of being.

Smoking marijuana reduces concentration, slows reaction time and impairs co-ordination; safe driving requires concentration, quick reflexes and co-ordinated movements.

Cocaine use can lead to violent or erratic behaviour, not traits desired in a person driving a car.

Heroin induces a drowsy state, and clouds mental functions because of a depression of the central nervous system. It also impairs night vision and slows reactions.

Keeping people under the influence of drugs from driving on our roads is a significant step to making our streets safer for everybody.

Invasion of privacy? In this instance it is trumped by public safety.

And it is certainly welcome news that Ontario has come on board. The provincial Centre of Forensic Sciences said this week it will test fluid samples taken from drivers under the new federal rules, reversing an earlier announcement that the tests would have to wait until the lab had sufficient resources in place. Key aspects of the new law would have been rendered toothless in Ontario without timely testing.