Increase in Sask. drug-related roadside suspensions raises questions about pot laws and policing

Mike Bartlett survived a near-fatal crash with a semi-truck in 2016 and uses medical cannabis to manage severe, chronic pain that still lingers.

Bartlett owns a horticultural supply store in Saskatoon. He's got a prescription to use cannabis medically and a licence from Health Canada to grow it for others.

Bartlett says he's concerned that he's going to lose his truck and driver's licence because of the laws around cannabis and driving.

He's not alone. He co-administers a 322-member Facebook page, "Saskatchewan SGI cannabis victims," where users share their experiences.

Their online allegations range from police targeting customers at cannabis stores, to SGI using its zero tolerance policy as a crude cash grab, to failure of a roadside test not correlating with impairment.

Police say their roadside tests are designed to detect recent cannabis use, but scientific studies have given reason to question their effectiveness and found that THC could be detected in saliva for up to eight days after it was taken.

A veteran Saskatoon criminal defence lawyer says frequent cannabis users are correct to be concerned. Mark Brayford said he knows many cannabis users see the driving laws and application as unfair.

"If you're smoking pot four times a week, you're going to have to resign yourself that you can't legally drive a car. It's that simple," he said in an interview.

"There isn't a period of time that you can safely wait if you're going to be a frequent user."

At the same time, Brayford said frequent cannabis users who test positive on a roadside swab and only have their licence and vehicle taken away for three days should consider themselves lucky to not be facing criminal charges.

The number of Saskatchewan drivers caught behind the wheel with THC, the active ingredient in cannabis, in their system was 20 times higher last year than in 2019, according to Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

Parliament legalized the possession of cannabis in October 2018. It also introduced laws that created new criminal offences related to driving under the influence.

In 2019, the first full year of legalization and the new driving laws, 76 drivers in Saskatchewan had their vehicles impounded and licences suspended for three days for having THC in their system. In 2023, that number was 1,594.

But the issue is complicated. While 1,594 drivers had their vehicles and licences suspended last year, there were only 11 criminal code charges related to alleged THC impairment.