More on the Drug-Driving Bill

The Tories have opened themselves up to a lot of criticism by the Liberal party and by teh internetz!!111 I am happy to say that I have not run into many bloggers and arm-chair pundits that think this legislation is a good thing. Except for this guy. Don't waste your time reading his post. The pic at the top of this post pretty much sums it up.

It is going to be hard to oppose this legislation without being seen as soft on drug-impaired driving. But there are some very valid criticisms of this bill and some important questions that need to be asked.

1. Is drugged driving a problem that needs additional legislation? Aaron Jacklin of Understanding Crime has suggested that perhaps this could be a step towards decriminilizing or even legalizing some drugs. It is true that the problem of how to deal with an alleged increase of drugged drivers on the roads is used by prohibitionists to oppose drug law reform. While I do hope this is true and it would definitely turn at least one opinionated school marm mom into a diehard Tory, I am not feeling very optimistic. The Tory government has given no indication of being supportive to the drug legalization cause. I have always believed that the drugged driving angle has always been used as a red herring. The idea that repealing prohibition would lead to an increase in drug-impaired drivers is based on the false assumption that legalization would lead to an increase in drug users. There is no reason to believe that would be he case. I believe that drug prohibition encourages drug use. The black market is the most effective example of viral marketing that I can think of.

2. Have the problems with current drug testing been addressed? We know that blood and urine testing is fraught with difficulties. In the case of marijuana we know that traces of THC metabolites show up in the blood long after the psycho-active effects of the drug are gone. The last thing we want is another law that marginilizes people that smoke the wrong plants and does nothing to make our streets safer. The Liberals mentioned that $4 million worth of funding was cut by the Tories from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Elimination of Drug Impaired Driving Program's training budget. That does seem a little fishy doesn't it? They want to give the police increased powers but they don't want to give them the training to use their power appropriately. Very, very fishy.