How much is too much? Prohibited Levels of Substances in Impaired Driving Offences
Prohibited Levels
Alcohol
Alcohol in a person’s system for the majority of impaired driving investigations is measured using a breath test. There are different types of breath test machines that are used at different parts of a drive impaired investigation.
What is used roadside, is called an approved screening device, or more commonly a breathalyzer. A straw that you blow air into is attached to a small machine that is able to interpret your blood alcohol concentration. A blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or over 80 mg per 100ml of blood within 2 hours of driving is the criminal threshold.
If you are tested on the roadside, the devices do not provide the exact BAC. They show a result of pass (0-49 BAC), warn (50-80 BAC) and fail (80+ BAC). Even if you do not fail the test you can face consequences as a result of a warning (50-80 BAC). This does not result in a criminal charge, but an Immediate Roadside Prohibition.
If you fail the roadside test, you can be arrested for Impaired Driving and then brought to a Police detachment for a further breath test to determine the exact BAC.
There are increased penalties for higher blood alcohol levels, a BAC of 120-159 attracts a higher mandatory minimum fine of $1500 and a BAC of 160 or more attracts a mandatory minimum fine of $2000.
There is no set amount of drinks that will keep you under the legal limit, it can vary based on your size, age, body, and a range of other factors. To be safe you should limit your alcohol intake when driving to zero or to drinking one standard drink per hour.
Cannabis (THC)
The Criminal Code makes 2 prohibited levels for THC.
(1) It is a less serious offence to have 2 nanograms (ng) -5 ng of THC per ml of blood. If found guilty of driving impaired by this degree of THC, this offence is not bound by the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines.
(2) It is a more serious offence to have 5 ng of THC or more per ml of blood.
Police can test for THC at the roadside. They currently use a saliva test.
Unlike alcohol, the existing scientific evidence does not yet provide general guidance to drivers about how much cannabis can be consumed before it is unsafe to drive or how long a driver should wait to drive after consuming cannabis.
Combination of Alcohol and Cannabis
In addition to the prohibited levels of alcohol and cannabis alone, there is also a prohibited level for a combination of them together.
If you have a blood alcohol concentration of of 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood AND at or over 2.5 ng of THC per ml of blood this makes out the offence that has the same mandatory minimum penalties as for alcohol impaired driving.
Other Drugs
Having any detectable amount of LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, ketamine, PCPC, cocaine, methamphetamine or a metabolite of heroin (6-mam) in your system within two hours of driving is prohibited. This means that any amount of these drugs in your system while operating a motor vehicle or within 2 hours of driving is prohibited by law.
Drugs like cocaine are also tested using a saliva test
