MANITOULIN—With the assistance of a trained drug recognition officer of the Manitoulin Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), a 23-year-old Little Current male was charged with ‘driving while his ability is impaired by a drug’ and ‘possession of a controlled substance’ on Friday.
On Friday, November 14 at 3:37 pm, the OPP was notified by a concerned citizen of a 2007 green Chevy Equinox travelling eastbound on Highway 540 from the M’Chigeeng First Nation. The caller reported that the driver of the vehicle could be impaired.
Members of the OPP and the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) Anishinaabe Police Service were advised to maintain observation of the vehicle, according to Community Services Officer Constable Al Boyd. A short time later, the same vehicle was observed travelling at a high rate of speed on Highway 540 on the Aundeck Omni Kaning First Nation by a UCCM officer and the vehicle was stopped. OPP officers also arrived on scene and, after conversation with the driver, it was determined that the driver was under the influence of a drug and arrested.
Constable Boyd explained to The Expositor that the drug recognition officer was called in to work from his day off to deal specifically with this case.
The officer was trained specially through an intensive two-month course offered by the OPP which enables him to determine the impairment of a person under the influence of both prescription or non-prescription drugs.
While charging a driver with the ‘impaired by a drug’ charge is rare on Manitoulin, “we’re starting to see it more and more,” Constable Boyd said.
[pullquote]While charging a driver with the ‘impaired by a drug’ charge is rare on Manitoulin, “we’re starting to see it more and more,” Constable Boyd said.[/pullquote]
In a case such as this, the trained officer would be called in, on suspicion from the first officer on the scene, and a battery of tests would commence, the constable explained.
From amphetamines to barbiturates and everything in between, the time it takes to answer the officer’s questions, and the responses, are noted, as are the suspect’s pupils, eye focus, dexterity and movement and a determination of the offender’s past history with drugs. Each drug has a different affect on the body and the officer can make the determination of which drug or drugs the offender has used.
“We don’t have a breathalyzer for this like we do for blood alcohol content, so the officer must make an extensive report from his findings for the courts,” he said.
It is the hope of the OPP to eventually have a drug recognition officer on each shift, Constable Boyd said.
The 23-year-old male was released on an undertaking with conditions to appear in Gore Bay at the Ontario Court of Justice on December 15, 2014.
