The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) doesn’t expect the world to change overnight when marijuana is legalized on Oct. 17.
Speaking on CKNW’s Lynda Steele Show, police Chief Adam Palmer says the VPD won’t be using the federally-approved Drager DrugTest 5000 as a screening device.
“It’s not something that we’re going to be deploying here in Vancouver,” Palmer said.
“There may be other agencies in British Columbia that will deploy it, and other places in Canada, but our experts have looked at it, and it doesn’t meet our requirements so we’re going to pass on this one.”
The VPD leader added that the device is quite bulky to carry and doesn’t always work properly in cold weather.
Palmer says he’s also concerned about the amount of time it would take to get a swab from someone who may be under the influence of drugs.
While the police chief says Vancouver is going to pass on the Drager device, the department will look at other options.