You may have seen in the news recently that edibles are starting to arrive on the shelves of licenced cannabis stores. An edible is any form of cannabis-infused consumable. They might be cookies, gummies or even a drink.
Although recreational cannabis became legal in October 2018, edibles only became legal in October last year. It has taken this long for edibles to start filtering into physical stores because producers are required to give 60 days’ notice to Health Canada that they intend to sell the products.
As edibles become more widely available, there are bound to questions about the impact they will have on the roads. This blog will look at edibles from a driving law perspective and the potential implications they might have for drug-impaired driving enforcement.
Edibles and driving
Cannabis edibles have not been legally available to the public until very recently. As a result, many people are unaware of the effect they might have on a person’s driving.
Health Canada has issued guidelines about the difference between ingesting and inhaling cannabis products.
Key takeaways are that “Everyone’s response to cannabis is different”, dependent on factors such as age, sex, your frequency of cannabis use and how much you have had to eat.
Health Canada makes some important distinctions, however, between the two methods of consumption. Inhalation can take a matter of seconds or minutes to feel the effects but up to 10 or 30 minutes to feel the full effects.
Ingestion can take 30 minutes to two hours after consumption to begin to feel something but up to four hours to feel the full effects.
Also, the effects of inhaling cannabis can last up to six hours while residual effects could last up to 24 hours. Effects after ingesting, on the other hand, can last up to 12 hours.
With this in mind, it is advisable to wait longer before driving after consuming edibles.
Cannabis-impaired driving offences
When the government legalized cannabis, it simultaneously introduced new cannabis-impaired driving offences. They placed per se limits on the amount of cannabis a person can have in their blood.
Having between 2 and 5 nanograms (ng) of THC per 1 ml of blood is punishable by a $1,000 fine. Having 5 ng or more of THC can result in a $1,000 fine up to a maximum of 120 days in prison. It is also an offence to have a BAC 50 mg of alcohol in 100 ml of blood alcohol plus 2.5 ng of THC in 1ml of blood while driving.
How police test for cannabis impairment
If you feel like if it’s safe to drive a few hours after consuming edibles, you might nonetheless still be over the legal limit for driving. If you a police officer suspects you are driving while impaired by cannabis there are two main tests they might order you to perform.
The first is the Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST). This consists of a series of physical tasks the driver must perform, such as following a moving pen with their eyes, walking in a line and turning or standing on one leg. SFSTs are highly subjective are open to challenge although police will not charge someone on the basis of an SFST alone.
The other test is an oral fluid test. The federal government approved the use of a portable device, the Drager DrugTest 5000, for police use. It detects THC in a person’s saliva.
If a driver fails one or both of these tests, it is likely they will need to go to a police detachment for a blood test and further evaluation by a Drug Recognition Expert. On the basis of those findings, police may or may not charge you with drug-impaired driving.
If you police have charged you with drug-impaired driving, you should consider hiring a lawyer to defend you. Acumen Law Corporation is ahead of the curve when it comes to the new drug-impaired driving laws. Call us on 604-685-8889 for a free consultation.