Saliva sample for drug testing not mandatory: MPI

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This article was published 15/09/2016 (3487 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s your call, Manitoba Public Insurance insisted Thursday — take a roadside breathalyzer if you wish, offer saliva if you’re in the mood.

Even though you’re at a Checkstop and police are nearby, MPI said Thursday the 1,200 saliva samples MPI hopes to take this month are given entirely voluntarily.

“There are no identifiers. There are no names taken,” and the saliva samples will be destroyed after they’re tested at a lab, MPI spokesman Brian Smiley said.

“The kit that is being used is for drug testing only,” and has nothing to do with DNA testing, he said. “The survey is part of the MPI road-safety survey mandate… to determine the prevalence of alcohol and drug use while driving.”

With the possibility of legalized marijuana, MPI wants to help establish a baseline of drug use by drivers, he said. The lab tests will only show if a driver had drugs in his or her system, and cannot determine impairment, he said.

Smiley said Prairie Research Associates is hoping for 1,200 samples this month from drivers in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Steinbach and Portage la Prairie.

Research staff will be at police Checkstops four nights a week, said Smiley, pointing out police don’t question every driver, nor do they test every driver. Once drivers go through the police Checkstop, the researchers will ask if they’re willing to take a breathalyzer and give a saliva sample, he said.

Smiley emphasized that police do not ask the drivers and do not stand with the researchers.

If the drivers’ breathalyzer is .05 or higher, MPI offers a ride home and will take the vehicle to the driver’s home. Police are called if the driver turns down the offer.

Drivers will be asked questions about drug use, including cocaine, and whether they’ve taken drugs that night.

Premier Brian Pallister told reporters Thursday he hadn’t been briefed about the roadside surveys,

“I always have concerns about protecting people’s individual privacy and personal rights. So on that basis, of course, I have some concerns. But beyond that, where things are communicated clearly and it’s well understood by the people involved, I don’t know that there’s a problem.

“I understand what they’re trying to do is get a sense, get us ready as a province, and we are working on this front, for the federal government’s enacting of their promise to legalize marijuana. As I’ve said previously, I’m very concerned about protecting all Manitobans on the roads. So, on that level, I think we do have to get ready to understand what’s the right thing to do to make sure we don’t have impaired drivers.

“Whether they’re impaired by alcohol or drugs doesn’t matter, there are going to be negative impacts for the people impaired but also for others in the province. So in that respect, I think that it’s important that we get ready and that we’re well-prepared to protect each other,” the premier said.

A spokesperson for the government of Manitoba said in a prepared statement: “Drug-impaired driving is a serious issue regardless if impairment is caused by a legally or illegally obtained drug. We continue to work with our partners to address alcohol and drug impaired driving to ensure the safety of our road ways.”

“We have some privacy concerns,” said Michelle Falk, executive director of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties. “It’s highly unusual for roadside tests to be conducted in this way.”

Falk said if MPI does not take names, and promises to destroy the samples after testing, MARL would not pursue it.

“The voluntary nature of the collection is unclear, because of the presence of police. There should have been more public education.”

Falk said MARL has received one complaint from a driver who didn’t get the message that participation was voluntary.

Meanwhile, reader Keaton Thibeault told the Free Press he didn’t consider the testing voluntary with the police presence, and he believed his DNA was being tested.

“I believe that my privacy rights have been violated,” Thibeault said.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca