With the anticipation of the legalization of marijuana, a new drug-impaired driving training program is set to roll out to help law enforcement across Canada detect and deter drug use and driving. While the course will cover most drug use and provide an overview of alcohol impairment, it will place an emphasis on impairment from cannabis use, according to a news release by Public Safety Canada.

The new Introduction to Drug-Impaired Driving curriculum will complement current Standard Field Sobriety Testing (SFST) training. Currently, police officers who are SFST-certified can conduct tests on drivers whom they think have been using drugs or alcohol to determine whether they are impaired. However, unlike alcohol impairment where an officer can use a road-side screening device like a breathalyzer, which estimates blood alcohol content from a breath sample, it can be more complicated to prove that a driver is drug-impaired.

With this new curriculum police officers may also be given new powers in the future. This includes demanding a blood sample from a driver who fails a sobriety test, explained Cpl. Shawn Tarnick is a police officer in southern Manitoba. Refusing a demand is a Criminal Code offence.

Upon demand, the driver will be brought to the nearest health centre to provide a blood sample which will then be sent away for analysis. Though the current timeline for the results has not yet been determined, Tarnick speculates that it will take longer than shorter to receive results due to a probable increase of busyness at labs.

Tarnick said one of the major issues is deciding what to do while waiting for the results.

"There needs to be something in place to prevent people from driving again while we're waiting for those results. That again is going to be up to the province," he said.

For now there are three proposed offences, said Tarnick, depending on the nanograms of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the chemical compound that induces a euphoric high in the user -- per millilitre of blood found in a driver.

The first is a summary offence which allows for two nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood.

The second is a hybrid offence which holds a limit of five nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood and will be considered the legal limit. This number will be applied to every person, whether they have a lower or higher tolerance. If a driver hits this limit, it is considered a fail.

The third offence is known as a further hybrid, a combination of alcohol and drug use. The limits for this are 0.05 blood alcohol content and 2.5 nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood. This is due to the increased impairment and effects caused by the joint use of alcohol and drugs.

Although these laws have not yet been passed, Tarnick said he thinks they are a step in the right direction.

"I think it's just common sense that we hope the public takes to this. The police are not biased towards marijuana or alcohol, when it becomes legal it's legal. Our job is to work within those boundaries (and for) the safety of the road."