Posted:
Halifax Regional Police (HRP) is pleased to be participating in a pilot project of Public Safety Canada, the RCMP and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators to test use of roadside screening devices for drug-impaired driving.
As part of this pilot project, HRP will be conducting checkpoints through to the end of February. During the checkpoints, drivers who show no signs of impairment will be asked to voluntarily and anonymously provide a sample of saliva for the oral fluid screening devices. The devices, Alere DDS 2® and the Securetec DrugWipe 6S®, test saliva for the presence of certain drugs, including cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids. The pilot project aims to assess officers’ ability to use these roadside drug testing devices under different weather conditions and at night.
Participation in this project is anonymous and voluntary. Information forms will be provided to each participant for each swab taken and will be identified by a number which cannot be linked back to any personal or identifiable information. Also, only those drivers who show no sign of impairment are eligible to volunteer. If they do volunteer, and they test positive for the presence of drugs, no further criminal or administrative procedures would be pursued (i.e., no charges would be laid). Any samples gathered during pilot testing will never be used as evidence for the prosecution of either a criminal or administrative offence.
More information on this pilot program of Public Safety Canada, the RCMP and the Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators, is available at http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=1169499