A former provincial health minister is applauding Kamloops for taking a pass on a controversial device mandated by the feds to test suspected drug impaired drivers.
Terry Lake says the Draeger Drug Test 5000 has a multitude of flaws not the least of which he says it cannot accurately determine drug impairment in testing for cannabis.
“The main one of course is THC, which produced the high people get, is a fat soluble molecule. The presence in blood or saliva is not really an accurate reflection of what is going on in the brain because it will continue to be found in bodily fluids for a long period of time when it has really come out of the brain and is really not having an affect.”
Lake says alcohol is water soluble, unlike cannabis, a blood or saliva test can make a very accurate assessment of impairment.
He says the Draeger device will be tested in court and he suspects after a few losses other municipalities will follow Kamloops lead and avoid it.