1. Drug-Impaired Driving Investigation
Good afternoon everyone,
I am very happy to be here and to present to you what is being done in Quebec with regard to impaired driving investigation and training that is offered to police officers to enable them to be more efficient in their fight against drug-impaired driving.
Michel Pilon, Expert Advisor in Highway Safety and Provincial Advisor for the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program (DECP) École nationale de police du Québec
CARSP Conference, May 27-30, 2015, Ottawa

2. Did You Know ? True or false
Canadians are the heaviest consumers of psychotropic medications in the world (2008).
True
One in ___ ( ) Canadians has used a drug other than cannabis (2010) ? 6
How many persons in this room, myself included, have already consumed a drug?
20% - 50 % - 90 %
???
I would like to start my presentation by asking you a few questions.
The first one is:
Canadians are the heaviest consumers of psychotropic medication in the world.
True or false?
The answer is true.
Psychotropic medications, such as valium, affect the mind, emotions and behavior of a person by stimulating or calming them.
Second question:
One in 6, 15 or 25 Canadians has used a drug other than cannabis.
The answer is: One in 6 Canadians has already used a drug; which is a significant proportion.
The third question might be a little indiscreet.
How many persons in this room, myself included, have already consumed a drug?
Well, only each of us can answer this question. However, in order to answer properly, we must understand what the word drug means. So, we could expect a rate of 90%.

3. One of the Elements of the Answer is in the Definition of the Word Drug
What is a drug?
Any substance that, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to operate a motor vehicle safely. (Definition taken from the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program).
You might be a little surprised by the definition but it allows to better understand the extent of the answer.
According to the definition from the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, a drug is:
Any substance that, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to operate a motor vehicle safely.
These substances, which can affect the ability of the person to drive, are numerous.
To give you an idea, 31% of drivers who died in motor vehicle accidents from 2005 to 2012 in Quebec had drugs or medications in their body.

4. What are these Substances?
The substances can be separated into two groups
Illicit drugs
Marijuana
Cocaine
PCP
Heroin
Etc.
Legal drugs
Alcohol
Medications prescribed by a doctor
Inhalants (volatile solvents, aerosols…)
What are these substances? The substances can be separated into two groups. The first group is illicit drugs.
Illicit drugs are often those we know about from televised news when members of the organized crime are arrested.
They are marijuana, cocaine, PCP. These drugs are usually consumed out of the public eye and are considered illegal.
As for “licit drugs”, they are found in a second group called “legal drugs”. Each of us might have consumed or might have had to consume one of them: alcohol, medications, prescribed syrup; and let’s not forget the use of very volatile solvents such as stain or varnish.
It’s in this second group that you will probably relate as a consumer. Some of you might even have consumed medications with a little bit of alcohol at the same time.
Remember the drug definition:
Any substance that, when taken into the human body, can impair the ability of the person to operate a motor vehicle safely. Even if they are legal and taken in small quantity, these substances can affect the person’s behaviour. An arrest for drug-impaired driving is not always associated to the consumption of illegal drugs.
Here is a short video presenting, in a humorous way, signs that can be observed on persons having consumed certain drugs.
I apologize for the visual quality.
Après le visionnement
Even if the symptoms were exaggerated in the video, we must remember that they exist and that the patrol officer must be trained to detect them.

5. In today’s society, we have to admit that an increasing number of persons are driving while impaired by one or several drugs. Even if the majority of the persons will not show signs and symptoms as obvious as in the video, we must remember that from the moment a person has consumed one of these substances and is driving a vehicle, there is a risk that he or she will be intercepted and arrested.

6. Standards The International Standards of the Drug Evaluation and
Classification Program
What is the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program?
Answer:
It is an international program produced by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for training drug recognition experts.
A Product of
The DEC Standards Revision Subcommittee
of the Technical Advisory Panel of the IACP Highway Safety Committee
Revised October 2012

7. Training of drug recognition experts
Experts accredited by the International Association of Chiefs of Police
Experts who can identify the signs and symptoms of a person under the influence of one or several drug categories.
The program includes:
The training of drug recognition experts based on standards that are regularly revised by a technical panel of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
These experts are certified and accredited by this Association.
They are trained to be able to identify the signs and symptoms from all recognized drug categories (for the program, the drugs are classified in seven categories).

8. Training Training of patrol officers (24 hours)
Administration of the standardized field sobriety tests
Training of drug recognition experts who are certified and accredited by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
Theoretical/classroom training (80 hours )
Practical/field training (40 hours)
Annual information day
There are two components to the training: the first one is a 24-hour training offered to patrol officers on how to administer standardized field sobriety tests. We will get back to these tests later.
The second one is more specifically related to the work of the drug recognition experts. This training involves two phases: Phase 1 consists of theoretical training on medical knowledge, such as pulse and blood pressure, the effects of drugs and the techniques to evaluate an intoxicated person.
Phase 2 is the field certification where students, under the supervision of an instructor, participate in at least 12 drug evaluations of intoxicated subjects whose abilities to drive are impaired. During this phase, they have to evaluate a minimum of three different drug categories.
Furthermore, drug recognition experts have to be recertified every two years. They have to attend an information day recognized by the Program in order to keep their status.

9. Training offered in all Canadian provinces
Offered in Quebec since 2008
Over 4,000 drug recognition experts in the United States and in Canada
Over 75 in Quebec
Over 425 evaluations carried out in Quebec in 2014.
The École nationale de police du Québec, together with the Drug Evaluation and Classification Program, has been offering this training to police organizations in Quebec since 2008.
The training program is well established in Canada and in Quebec. Over 75 experts have been trained in Quebec since In Quebec, the program is administered by several partners including police officers, the forensic lab, crown prosecutors and the ministry of Public Security.
All these partners work with the police officers and have enabled them to conduct over 425 evaluations in 2014.
In Quebec, the three main detected drugs are: stimulants, depressants and cannabis.

10. How is the Impaired Driving Investigation Conducted?
It is conducted in two stages:
On the roadside (interception)
2) A the police station
The drug-impaired driving investigation is made up of several elements.
The police officers involved in this type of investigation have different tools that enable them to obtain the required evidence.
On the roadside:
When the police officer is at the stage of reasonable grounds to suspect, he must observe the driving and the driver’s behaviour in order to recognize and describe the impaired driving signs.
He can also use standardized field sobriety tests to obtain this information. Following this investigation, if the police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver’s ability is impaired by a drug, he will arrest the driver and give the order to submit to an evaluation conducted by an evaluating officer. This evaluation will take place at the police station.

11. Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
The standardized field sobriety tests (SFST) are:
The horizontal gaze nystagmus test;
Video 2
The walk-and-turn test;
The one-leg stand test.
An important tool police officers have is the standardized field sobriety tests. They consist of an eye examination called the horizontal gaze nystagmus test and the divided attention tests, which you must have already seen or heard of in the media. The divided attention tests include the walk-and-turn test and the one-leg stand test.
I would like to draw your attention on the eye examination. The police officer must check many elements when examining the eyes of a person and one of them is the presence of horizontal gaze nystagmus.
What is horizontal gaze nystagmus?
The next video will show what nystagmus is. Nystagmus is an involuntary jerking of the eyes. As you can see, when the eyes move to the side, there is a jerking movement.
Certain drugs including alcohol exaggerate this involuntary eye movement. Nystagmus is beyond the person’s control. So this is what a police officer is checking when you see him use a stimulus in front of a person’s face.

12. Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
At this stage, the patrol officer will record on an observation sheet the clues and his observations of the person throughout the administration of these tests in order to establish his grounds for arrest.

13. Step 2 Evaluation by a Drug Recognition Expert
If the person is arrested, we continue to the second step of the investigation. This is where the drug recognition expert work starts. Following the order given to the driver to submit to an evaluation, the drug recognition expert will evaluate the person in order to determine which drug category or categories are involved.
This evaluation consists of 12 very specific steps that are found of this form.
And it’s based on this evaluation and the totality of the gathered evidence that the drug recognition expert will be able to draw a conclusion.
The Evaluation of Impaired Operation (Drugs and Alcohol) Regulations of the Criminal Code specifies part of the tests to be conducted and procedures to be followed by the drug recognition expert.
Some of them will be presented in the following slides.

14. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert
(a) Preliminary examination
Measuring the pulse;
As I have just mentioned, the Evaluation of Impaired Operation (Drugs and Alcohol) Regulations specifies part of the tests to conduct and the procedure to be followed by the drug recognition expert. The expert will have to conduct, among others, a preliminary examination which consists of:
measuring the pulse; this will be done three times during the evaluation
determining that the pupils are the same size. A difference in size may be caused by an illness or brain injuries.
Determining that the pupils are the same size;

15. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
Determining that the eyes track an object equally;
The expert will also have to determine that the eyes track an object equally.
If the eyes do not track an object equally, this might indicate a medical problem or an injury.
Note: The evaluating officer always wears protective gloves when conducting an evaluation on a subject .

16. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(b) Eye examinations, which consist of:
the horizontal gaze nystagmus test;
the vertical gaze nystagmus test;
the lack-of- convergence test.
The drug recognition expert will conduct the following eye examination:
The horizontal gaze nystagmus test
The vertical gaze nystagmus test
The lack-of-convergence test.
Certain drug categories can cause nystagmus. For example, a high concentration of alcohol can cause vertical nystagmus.
The lack of convergence can give complementary information to the drug recognition expert.

17. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(c) Divided-attention tests, which consist of:
The Romberg balance test;
The walk-and-turn test;
The one-leg stand test;
The finger-to-nose test, which includes the test subject tilting the head back and touching the tip of their index finger to the tip of their nose in a specified manner while keeping their eyes closed.
The drug recognition expert will conduct certain divided-attention tests that may have already been given by the patrol officer. The expert will also add:
The Romberg balance test (which checks the subject’s internal body clock as the subject estimates a period of time).
The finger-to-nose test (which consists of asking the subject to touch the tip of their index finger to the tip of their nose in a specified manner).

18. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(d) An examination, which consists
of measuring the:
blood pressure;
The drug recognition expert will take the blood pressure, the body temperature and will measure the pulse again. Important information will be obtained from these tests.
For example, we know that certain drug categories lower the body temperature or affect a person’s blood pressure.
The results of these tests will give the expert important information on the consumed drug category or categories.
temperature;
pulse.

19. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
In a dark room
(e) Examination of pupil sizes under light levels of:
ambient light;
total darkness;
direct light.
A dark room examination is conducted to check pupil size in ambient light, in total darkness and in direct light.
Once again, the results of these exams will bring valuable information on the consumed drug category or categories.

20. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(e) Examination of the
oral cavities;
The expert will then examine the nasal and oral cavities for any drug residue. This is often when white or green residues are found: white for cocaine and green for cannabis.
This examination also allows to check the condition of the person’s teeth. Certain drugs, such as stimulants, cause the person to grind their teeth and therefore lead to premature tooth wear, so some will use a pacifier.
nasal cavities.

21. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(f) Examination which consists of checking:
the muscle tone;
The next examination consists of checking the muscle tone of the person. Since certain drugs make the muscle tone rigid or flaccid, this examination will help the drug recognition expert to identify the consumed drug category.
The expert will check the pulse for a third time. Checking the pulse three times during the evaluation can give some indications on the stage the effects of a drug are at in a person. Certain drugs have long-term effects and others have shorter term effects.
and pulse.

22. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
(g) A visual examination of:
the arms;
neck;
and, if exposed, the legs.
The expert will then conduct a visual examination of the driver’s arms, neck and, if exposed, legs, for evidence of injection sites. We know that people can consume the same drug in different ways such as by injection, inhalation, orally, etc.
for evidence of injection sites.

23. Evaluation by the Drug Recognition Expert [cont’d]
If, on completion of the evaluation, the expert has reasonable grounds to believe that the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle is impaired, the person will have to provide the following sample of bodily substances:
oral fluid or
If, on completion of the evaluation, and following the totality of the information obtained, the drug recognition expert has reasonable grounds to believe that the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle is impaired by a drug or by a combination of alcohol and a drug, the expert will demand that the person provides a sample of bodily substances, either blood, oral fluid or urine, as provided for in the Criminal Code.
In Québec, we favour the sample of urine since it can be easily obtained .
urine or
samples of blood.

24. Corroboration of the Drug Recognition Expert’s Conclusion
Next steps:
Analysis of the sample of the bodily substance by the Forensic laboratory to corroborate the evaluation made by the drug recognition expert.
A request to institute proceedings to the Crown prosecutor if the analysis from the Forensic laboratory corroborates the expert’s conclusion.
The sample of the bodily substance will be sent to the forensic laboratory with the expert’s report on his conclusion about the identified drug category or categories. If the expert’s conclusion is corroborated by the laboratory, the file will be submitted to the Crown prosecutor for legal proceedings.

25. Conclusion Joint Work Provincial prevention program. Team work
Vaccin Operation
Advertisements of the Société d’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ)
Provincial Consultative Committee
The Drug Evaluation and Classification Program is one of the elements used in the fight against drug-impaired driving . The increased impaired driving operations, the provincial interventions and the prevention work from our partners are all important efforts the province of Quebec has put forth to make our roads safer.
Working in cooperation with our partners from the ministry of Public Security and the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec will allow us to pursue this endeavor.

26. Thank you!