Feds put up $5.4M to combat drug-impaired driving

The Government of Canada announced funding to combat drug-impaired driving on Friday.

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale announced that $5.4 million over five years will be used to increase capacity among officers in standardized field sobriety testing and drug recognition expert evaluation (DRE).

“Driving is a privilege and with privilege comes responsibility. If you are planning to consume cannabis or any other drug, do not drive,” Goodale said. “You are not a better driver after using cannabis and you can’t assume you are safe to drive after a couple of hours.”

The federal government is providing $5 million to SK police for drug impaired driving testing equipment. The devices are said to be accurate half the time but give police the right to demand blood tests and to conduct further sobriety examinations for a more thorough assessment. pic.twitter.com/xIwwOpd8IM

— Wayne Mantyka (@WayneMantykaCTV) August 30, 2019

Funds from the announcement will also be used to develop a standardized data collection and reporting practices for the analysis of trends, identification of gaps and to provide an accurate description of drug-impaired driving across the country.

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  Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Ralph Goodale speaks at press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 16, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang