Goodale cites ‘absolute carnage’ on roads in lowering breathalyzer hurdle
OTTAWA — It would be easier for police to make drivers blow into a breathalyzer to detect alcohol as well as test people for drugs under the government’s new legal-marijuana legislation.
The Liberals are using the occasion of legalizing pot to remake criminal provisions on drunk driving in response to pressure from parliamentarians, the provinces and public, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale acknowledged in an interview.
“One of the things you need to weigh in terms of the appropriateness of a provision like this is the absolute carnage that’s caused on our highways and the very severe loss of life, and injury, by impaired driving of all kinds,” Goodale said Thursday.
Proposed mandatory alcohol screening measures would allow police to demand a breath sample from any driver they lawfully stop — a lower bar than the current threshold of suspicion the person has been drinking.