Canadian police officers need better roadside tools to get drug-impaired drivers off the streets, Senator Claude Carignan says.

Senator Carignan will introduce a public bill in the Senate on Tuesday, October 4 that would allow police to use roadside saliva tests to detect whether drivers have drugs in their system.

“It’s important to adopt this bill as we are already far behind other countries in detecting and deterring drug-impaired drivers, Senator Carignan said.

“Too many accidents and deaths occur as a result.”

The bill, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (driving while impaired by drugs), would amend the Criminal Code and allow police officers to use roadside saliva tests to determine if a driver suspected of being impaired has used illicit drugs.

Without a roadside test for drug use, police need reasonable grounds to send a driver for additional testing at a police station. As a result many drivers bypass these tests.

Studies show that the number of drug-impaired drivers is about the same as those impaired by alcohol.