A Vancouver lawyer is predicting that the Draeger Drug Test 5000, approved Monday by the federal government to test marijuana impaired drivers, will fail miserably within a year. Draeger is a saliva screening device that tests for THC — the main psychoactive agent in cannabis. A member of the firm Acumen Law Corporation, Kyla Lee, says the test will cost $20 each time a police officer uses it, won’t work in any temperature below 4 C, and the results won’t even stand up in court. In response to the approval, Lee cited Ireland. “They expected hundreds of thousands of drivers to be checked and it was so expensive and difficult and time-consuming to be used that there was only a handful of tests done in the first year.: The system collapsed she said. Furthermore, she said, the test doesn’t indicate whether or not a person is impaired, so while it will give an officer grounds to arrest someone and consider investigating, it’s not going to be proof in court. In a news release, the federal government says the equipment will now be made available to police forces across the country, and it will be up to police to decide what testing equipment they want to use. The Liberals have pledged $161 million in funding for police training and drug-testing equipment over the next five years, as well as a public awareness campaign about the perils of driving while high.
