But that doesn’t mean drivers who have been pulled over should consider themselves to have gotten off scot-free

Regina Police Services (RPS) reports it has not made a single arrest for drug-impaired driving since federal legalization of recreational cannabis came into force one year ago, but that doesn’t mean drivers who have been pulled over should consider themselves to have gotten off scot-free.

RPS chief Evan Bray told the Regina Leader-Post that the force will require drivers suspected of being drug-impaired to provide a blood sample, but the analysis of those samples isn’t particularly efficient and could take months to process.

“We have had a couple of impaired driving cases where we suspect there’s been impairment due to both alcohol and cannabis, but no impaired driving charges to today’s date strictly due to cannabis.” he said, adding that the force will continue to train officers to use roadside cannabis testers.

Just more than a year ago, RPS had expected to drop over $1 million more on enforcement, equipment, education and additional training as a result of the drug’s newfound legal status. However, according to Bray, the rates of impaired driving have been on a downswing all across Saskatchewan since last fall.

Although, “possessing cannabis in a vehicle is a big one that we’ve seen,” he said.

But, Bray thinks with drug recognition experts and roadside cannabis testers, the force will be able to handle any rise in cannabis use.

“We do have officers trained that way now, but that’s going to be something that we’ll continue to provide training for,” he said.

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