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Driving when you are over the legal limit for drugs or alcohol is a criminal offence. It is also an offence to drive while your ability to drive is impaired regardless of the amount of alcohol. These offences come with severe consequences.
The criminal law sets specific limits on the level of alcohol and drugs that can be in a person’s system. If a person drives while over the limit, they are committing a criminal offence.
Consuming these substances affects your ability to make sound judgment. This means your estimation of your condition is not reliable.
Sometimes, people rely on rules of thumb to figure out if they are under the limit. This could be something like the number of drinks consumed in an hour or number of hours since using cannabis. There are many factors that may change how a person’s body reacts to alcohol or drugs. This makes relying on these calculations risky, especially when the stakes are as high as they are for drunk or drugged driving.
Alcohol content varies with the type, size and brand of the drink. Things like body type, weight, food consumption and the time of day you are drinking will all affect your actual blood alcohol level. This makes it difficult to accurately figure out your own alcohol levels.
Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a part of cannabis. It is what makes you high. A saliva test can be used to determine the presence of THC, not the amount of THC. Blood tests are required to measure the amount of THC in a person’s system in nanograms.
Determining if you are over the limit for THC is even more difficult. You may hear that waiting 4 or 8 hours after using cannabis is a good guideline. However, factors such as weight, experience level, and the potency of the cannabis will affect how long you need to wait before driving. There is no formula that can accurately be used to figure out if you are over the limit for THC.
Rules of thumb also give you no information about whether your ability to drive is impaired. Alcohol and drugs can have very different effects on different people. An person’s ability to operate a vehicle can be legally impaired even when they are under the legal limit for drugs or alcohol. Impaired driving is also a criminal offence and has the same legal consequences as driving over the specific limits.
It is a criminal offence to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of over .08. This is the case regardless of whether any signs of impairment are present.
With a BAC of .08, muscle coordination becomes poor. It is harder to process information. Speed control and perception are impaired. This greatly increases the odds of crashing your vehicle.
It is a criminal offence to drive with a THC blood level of 5 nanograms or more.
It is a less serious criminal offence to drive with a THC blood level over 2 nanograms but under 5 nanograms.
It is a criminal offence to drive with a combination of a blood alcohol level over .05 and a THC blood level of 2.5 nanograms or more.
It is a criminal offence to drive with any detectable level of:
It is a criminal offence to drive with a blood level of 5mg or more of GHB. Up to 5mg is allowed since peoples' bodies can naturally produce low levels.
You can be charged with any of these limit offences if you are over the limit within 2 hours of driving. The exception to this is if you can show that you drank or took drugs after you drove and that you had no reason to think you would be required to give a sample for testing. In the case of alcohol limits, your blood concentration must be at a level that is consistent with you being below the limit at the time that you were driving.
The term impaired driving is often used as a catch-all phrase to cover a variety of circumstances involving drunk or drugged driving. However, it also refers to a particular criminal offence in itself.
The offence of impaired driving occurs when an individual’s ability to drive is impaired by alcohol or drugs. The offence of impaired driving depends on the effect that the drugs or alcohol has on a person, not the amount consumed. Alcohol, over-the-counter drugs, prescription drugs or illicit drugs, even in small amounts, can all lead to impairment.
People are often initially charged with both driving over the limit and impaired driving. A person cannot be convicted of both charges in relation to the same incident, however. This is because it would essentially be convicting the person twice for the same illegal act.
If the police have lawfully stopped your car, they can require you to blow into a roadside alcohol screening device. They can do this even if they do not have any grounds for believing you have consumed alcohol.
A police officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that a driver is under the influence of drugs or alcohol can demand that the driver be tested. The test may be a:
Drivers who have used drugs or alcohol cannot avoid charges by refusing to be tested. Refusal is a criminal offence with the same consequences as driving over the limit or driving impaired. This is also the case for failing the test without a reasonable excuse.
A person does not actually have to be driving to be charged with being over the limit or impaired driving. These offences include having care or control of a vehicle. Being found in the driver’s seat is enough for a conviction unless the accused can show that they did not have care and control of the vehicle.
Under the Criminal Code, there are serious consequences for the offences related drunk or drugged driving outlined above.
If you have more than 2 but under 5 nanograms of THC in your blood, you can receive a Criminal Code conviction. This will result in a criminal record. You can also be banned from driving for up to 1 year and receive a fine of up to $1,000. The criminal consequences outlined below do not otherwise apply to this offence, however.
You will go to jail:
There is no minimum jail term for a 1st offence. However, you can still go to jail for a 1st offence. The maximum jail terms listed above starting at 10 years still apply to a 1st offence.
You will be banned from driving:
These driving bans are in addition to any time spent in jail. It is a criminal offence to drive while under a driving ban. You may be able to drive sooner with a special restricted licence or with ignition interlock depending on your situation.
You will be fined:
There is no set maximum fine unless you are charged by summary conviction. This means the fine can be much higher than the minimum. If you are charged by summary conviction, the maximum fine is $5,000.
If you suffer from alcohol or drug addiction and agree to go to treatment, your sentencing can be postponed until after treatment is complete. This can impact the sentence you receive.
If you are convicted of a criminal drunk or drugged driving offence, you will have a criminal record. This can affect your plans for things in the future such as travel, education and employment. Some employers require criminal record checks. Some professions require their members to be of good standing or character. Some countries will not allow people with a criminal record to enter or only allow them in if they apply for and receive a waiver.
In Saskatchewan, drunk or drugged Criminal Code offences also result in penalties under provincial traffic safety laws. For these penalties, only convictions within the last 10 years will be considered in determining if it is a 1st, 2nd, 3rd or subsequent offence. Penalties for these offences are discussed below.
Your driver’s licence will be immediately suspended. The suspension begins immediately after charges are laid and stays in place until the charges have been dealt with in court.
Your licence will be suspended:
Your licence can be suspended under provincial laws and by a criminal court. The period of suspension will be whichever is longer.
Even if it is registered to someone else, the vehicle you were driving will be impounded:
Registered owners are responsible for towing and storage costs. In situations where the owner and the driver are not the same person, the owner may start a court action to recover these costs from the driver.
Registered vehicle owners should ensure that people who drive their vehicle do so legally and responsibly. Registered owners are generally responsible for their vehicle even if they are not the driver.
You will be required to participate in driving education. More intensive programs are required if there are repeat offences. You must also pay a registration fee to enrol in these programs.
Ignition interlocks require drivers to provide a breath sample before their vehicle will start. It will prevent the vehicle from starting if alcohol is detected. It also requires and records random breath samples while the vehicle is running. You will be responsible for installation and maintenance costs.
If you were driving impaired, over .08 or over the combined alcohol and THC limit, an ignition interlock must be installed for a:
The length of time that ignition interlock must be in place also goes up with high blood alcohol levels (.16 or over), if you refuse a demand or if someone is injured or dies. In these cases, an interlock must be installed for a:
The costs for installing the interlock and participating in the program can run into the $1,000s. You will be responsible for these costs.
For more information, see our page on the Safe Driver Recognition Program.
You will have to pay:
You will also lose a large amount of safe driver points. This will result in increased premiums for vehicle insurance.
People who drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can find themselves without insurance coverage. This means that damage to their own vehicle or other losses or injuries may not be covered. SGI will still compensate the drivers and passengers of other vehicles involved in a collision. However, SGI will seek repayment from the uninsured driver. Until the driver pays this money back, or at least gets on a payment plan, they may not be able to get the insurance coverage that is needed to drive.
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