© Sean Kilpatrick According to Statistics Canada’s latest cannabis survey, 14 per cent of users are driving within two hours of consumption. Cannabis may be legal across Canada now, but that doesn't mean you can hotbox your car.

That's the message coming from Saanich police who dished out their first ticket under the new Cannabis Control and Licensing Act to someone smoking a joint in a car on Wednesday.

Police were conducting a traffic enforcement campaign at the intersection of Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue that day.

Along with 50 tickets for infractions such as speeding and distracted driving, they also nabbed a passenger smoking marijuana in a vehicle.



Cannabis is allowed inside a vehicle under B.C.'s new pot rules, but only if it's in a sealed package and inaccessible to the vehicle's occupants — much like the rules around open containers of alcohol.

The passenger was slapped with a $230 fine.

Just went through my first "cannabis roadblock." Cop asked me when I had my last drink, and then asked me the last time I had cannabis. Guess this is the new Canadian normal. — Robyn Crawford (@rcrawford980) October 20, 2018

However, after issuing the violation ticket, officers allowed the vehicle to continue on its way.

"During the stop officers spoke to the driver and, after a conversation with him, were satisfied his ability to operate a motor vehicle had not been affected by his passengers’ use of cannabis," police said in a media release.



While most police forces across Canada have yet to obtain any kind of device that would allow roadside testing for high drivers, police say they are still enforcing rules against impaired driving — whether it's related to drugs or alcohol.

“The Saanich Police Department continues to use standard field sobriety testing when drug impaired driving is suspected” said Saanich police Sgt. Jereme Leslie in a statement.

“This is nothing new to the Saanich Police Department and around half the officers in Saanich are trained to do this testing.”



Drivers caught stoned behind the wheel can face fines starting at $1,000, along with 90-day driving prohibitions and possible jail time for repeat offences.