Canada’s Attorney General has approved the Draeger DrugTest 5000, a German-manufactured roadside saliva drug test device that will allow Canadian police to swab a driver’s mouth and immediately test for the presence of THC.
Public Safety Canada conducted a pilot program of roadside drug test devices with police in 2017 and found that the devices were helpful for law enforcement, although the Draeger 5000 was not one of the devices that was used during the pilot.
The Draeger 5000 is currently used in both Germany and the United Kingdom.
The development comes on the heels of the government approving Bill C-45, which legalizes cannabis. Bill C-46 seems to be in response of that bill and overhauls Canada’s impaired driving laws, establishing how law enforcement will handles drives that are pulled over for suspicion for driving while under the influence of THC.
