N.S. woman plans constitutional challenge of roadside cannabis test

HALIFAX — A lawyer for a Nova Scotia motorist whose licence was suspended after her saliva tested positive for cannabis says he’s planning to launch a constitutional challenge.

Jack Lloyd says Michelle Gray’s case shows the law dealing with impaired driving is too broad and too vague.

Gray, who uses medical cannabis to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis, says she shouldn’t have been penalized because other police tests confirmed she was not impaired.

Gray says she told police conducting a roadside check in January she had one alcoholic drink over a two-hour period before she got into her car to drive home from downtown Halifax.

The officer then said he could detect the smell of cannabis coming from her car.

Though Gray passed a roadside alcohol test, a saliva test showed trace amounts of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

She was arrested and taken to police headquarters, where she was subjected to a comprehensive sobriety evaluation, which includes balance and memory tests.

Though she passed the tests, which proved she was not impaired, her licence was suspended for a week and her car was impounded — leaving her with a $400 bill.

Lloyd, a Toronto-based lawyer with an expertise in cannabis, says he plans to file a legal challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

He says lawyers across the country are contemplating similar cases, based on the argument that roadside cannabis tests have no rational connection to actual impairment.