How Canadians can be charged with driving under the influence of cannabis without ever smoking a joint | National Post Derek Kowalenko doesn’t use marijuana. But he’s been designated as an illegal drug user, and he can’t find a job, and he’s stressed out, all because RCMP officers in Kelowna, B.C., believed he was stoned on pot while he sat in his truck in a local Walmart parking lot.
In fact, says Mr. Kowalenko, he was smoking a grape-flavoured cigarillo. He showed it to the two Mounties when they walked up to his parked truck. “What are you smoking?” Mr. Kowalenko recalls being asked.
He held up his cigarillo, still lit.
According to an RCMP document, one of the officers “detected a very faint smell of marijuana under much cigar smoke in the cab of the truck.” Police found no marijuana on their suspect; they didn’t conduct a search. Mr. Kowalenko offered to produce blood and urine samples but the arresting officers weren’t interested. Instead, they ordered him to recite the alphabet backwards, and to stand on one foot, with the other foot pointed out, and to hold the pose while they talked.
He didn’t perform well, he admits. He says he was nervous. “How many people can say the alphabet backwards on command, anyhow?” Mr. Kowalenko asks.
His driver’s licence was suspended on the spot. Unlike drivers caught drunk behind the wheel of a car, in B.C., an alleged drug- impaired driver has no means to contest a 24-hour suspension, aside from going to court, a lengthy and costly process.
Rather than hire a lawyer, Mr. Kowalenko appealed to the RCMP and to the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP; both complaints were dismissed.
In fact, says Mr. Kowalenko, he was smoking a grape-flavoured cigarillo. He showed it to the two Mounties when they walked up to his parked truck. “What are you smoking?” Mr. Kowalenko recalls being asked.
He held up his cigarillo, still lit.
According to an RCMP document, one of the officers “detected a very faint smell of marijuana under much cigar smoke in the cab of the truck.” Police found no marijuana on their suspect; they didn’t conduct a search. Mr. Kowalenko offered to produce blood and urine samples but the arresting officers weren’t interested. Instead, they ordered him to recite the alphabet backwards, and to stand on one foot, with the other foot pointed out, and to hold the pose while they talked.
He didn’t perform well, he admits. He says he was nervous. “How many people can say the alphabet backwards on command, anyhow?” Mr. Kowalenko asks.
His driver’s licence was suspended on the spot. Unlike drivers caught drunk behind the wheel of a car, in B.C., an alleged drug- impaired driver has no means to contest a 24-hour suspension, aside from going to court, a lengthy and costly process.
Rather than hire a lawyer, Mr. Kowalenko appealed to the RCMP and to the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP; both complaints were dismissed.
