Constable Seth Dodman-Casemore has been a member of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) for 13 years. He is an expert in drug and alcohol-impaired investigations and coordinates training for the EPS Impaired Driving Unit. Constable Dodman-Casemore also serves as an instructor for the International Association of Chiefs of Police Drug Recognition Expert and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing programs, and Alberta's alcohol breath testing programs. With his extensive background, Constable Dodman-Casemore emphasizes the crucial difference between legal and illegal cannabis use.
Seth helps us bust some myths around:
- impaired driving
- legal vs. illegal cannabis
- roadside sobriety testing
- and more!
It’s essential to know all the facts about legal use and the rules around cannabis and driving before you choose to use.
Beyond the video: Cannabis and the law Q&A
Explore more insights and expert answers to your top legal cannabis questions.
Legal: Have excise stamp, yellow health warning label in English and French, a standardized Canadian THC symbol, and a plain solid colour child-resistant container.
Legal products also have listed potencies that adhere to the Cannabis Act; each edible has a maximum of 10mg of THC and concentrates have a maximum of 1000mg.
Illegal stores will have no purchase limit, ask for payment by e-transfer or crypto, ship anywhere in Canada or internationally and sell products with no THC limits and easy-to-open packaging, increasing risks for children, teens and pets.
Legal online stores will have the CannabisSense banner located on the homepage, they will only ship to Alberta and the retailer is listed on aglc.ca as a legal licensee.
The Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) is conducted by specially trained Police officers at the roadside when the driver of a motor vehicle is suspected of having a drug in their body. The SFST consists of preliminary questions, an eye exam and movement tests. If the SFST indicates impairment by drug, the driver will then be arrested and taken to a police station to be evaluated by a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE).
According to Federal legislation, the legal limit is less than 2 nanograms (ng) of THC per millilitre of blood. The penalties for amounts of cannabis between 2 and 5 ng, over 5 ng and a combination of 2.5 ng/50 mg per 100 mL vary.
You can face both federal penalties and provincial sanctions. Federal penalties vary depending on the amount of THC found in your body, as well as the number of times you have committed the offence, but they include fines or imprisonment. Provincial sanctions also vary depending on the number of times you have committed the offence, but they can also include fines, licence suspensions, vehicle seizures and various reinstatement conditions.
The truth is that even when you don’t feel the immediate effects of a drug (cannabis, alcohol, any drug), your brain is still operating under the influence of that drug until it is all eliminated from your body. Elimination takes time and lasts longer than the feeling of being high.
The current recommendation is to wait 8 hours after inhalation (smoking) and 12 hours after ingestion (edibles). Your reaction to cannabis may be different than someone else’s--make sure you arrange for safe transportation if you choose to use.