The Federal Government has approved a new roadside test to crack down on high drivers, but a Vancouver criminal defence lawyer says it’s got a long list of issues.
Sarah Leamon has presented evidence to the House of Commons and the Senate on various roadside drug detection methods, and says the Dräger Drug Test 5000 gives inaccurate readings when out in the cold, or when tilted as little as ten degrees sideways.
Additionally, the entire test takes about ten minutes to complete, which Leamon says is a human rights violation that she plans on addressing with the federal courts.
“Either the police officer of the subjects themselves can swab the inside of their mouth for about four minutes, which is actually a really long time,” says Leamon. “You could be detained for quite a period of time and you could also be subject to very invasive bodily searches.”
Leamon says she’s surprised that the Dräger got the green light over other options.
“There were pilot projects that were done over the last year in conjunction with the RCMP where police officers actually got to take two other devices out onto the road and use them in real life situations,” says Leamon. “Neither one of them ended up being selected, and the feedback wasn’t all negative – there were actually a lot of positive things that they had to say about using those.”
Dräger claims to have 60 years of experience in drug detection, and that the devices are reliable.
Police forces across Canada will be receiving them within the next four to six weeks.