EDMONTON -- Cannabis-impaired driving has increased 70 per cent since legalization one year ago, an Edmonton Police Commission report shows, but it doesn’t necessarily mean more people are driving high.
In the first eight months of 2019, Edmonton police arrested 29 cannabis-impaired drivers—12 more than the same period in 2018.
The data, collected from 23 check stops, also shows drug-impaired driving is up 36 per cent and alcohol-impaired driving is up 21 per cent.
Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Deputy Chief Al Murphy presented the report to the Community and Public Services Community meeting.
Murphy acknowledged impaired driving enforcement is also up compared to 2018.
EPS conducted more check stops in 2019 to compile the data and said more front line officers (759) have since been trained to test for cannabis impairment.
“It can be argued both ways to be honest with you, but the concern is it is increasing,” said Murphy.
Cannabis impairment more complicated, expensive
Edmonton police said it is more expensive to process a cannabis-impaired driver ($536.88) than an alcohol-impaired driver ($89.48) because it takes six times longer to test. The report said those costs do not factor time required to prepare reports or attend court. In addition, those incidents can often involve multiple officers.
Councillors questioned how much time officers need to spend on cannabis-impairment, given other priorities in Edmonton.
“I don’t want front line officers hidden away in rooms dealing with verification of a cannabis impairment while, you know, people struggling with meth are running amok causing all kinds of crime and disorder in the rest of the city,” said Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters.
The City of Edmonton gave police $1.4 million in one-time and on-going funding to prepare for deal with impacts of legalization.
Murphy said EPS is working within that budget, but said there are concerns about the impact cannabis edibles will have, especially given how popular they have been in United States, where they are legal.
“We’ll see if that happens here but it certainly did happen south of the border and we’ll continue to monitor our impacts as we go forward,” said Murphy.
While there is no exact date for the availability of edibles, a local cannabis store owner told CTV News Edmonton he expects them to available by mid-December or early January.
The Edmonton Police Commission will continue to provide quarterly updates to city councillors on the impacts of legalization.
