We have been covering all of the groups and organizations that are concerned with impaired driving as a result of cannabis legalization, and now a city is taking action on the matter due to their concerns. The Leduc city council has just passed a resolution which will delegate this issue to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities(FCM) in hopes that it will be put on the agenda at the FCM conference this summer.
According to Leduc Mayor, Greg Krischke, “Council is fairly proactive when it comes to issues that not only affect our communities but others. This is a resolution that says there should be some work done to have legislation in place similar to drunk driving. We’re just putting this out there because this (Liberal) government seems to be moving toward legalization of marijuana.”
The mayor observed the procedure for impaired driving while doing a ride-along with Leduc RCMP, where an impaired driver was stopped. He said that, “The way it was explained to me is it might have taken four hours to get the person with the expertise to see how drug impaired.” Currently all that can be done by police is to take their drivers license for a day and impound their car for a day as well. “That’s really the only thing police can do right now … There aren’t really solid guidelines and policies in place.”
The concern over impaired drivers is growing as cannabis legalization looms. More cities could follow Leduc’s path and start being proactive with this issue.