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The Twelve Weeks of DRE: Check For Muscle Tone

The next step in the Drug Recognition Evaluation is to check the subject’s body for muscle tone. The rationale behind this is that some drugs will make your muscles rigid and some will make them flaccid, and that will help the DRE officer determine the class or category of drug that a person has taken.

In Canada, this step is combined with the next of the twelve steps, which is to take the subject’s pulse and check for injection sites. However, as we are going by the twelve steps individually, I will deal with that next week.

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Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume Eighteen

This week’s roundup of weird and wacky legal cases starts out grim, but I promise we end on a high note. First, we look at why on earth a person would want to rob themselves. Next, we delve into a woman facing twelve criminal charges for practicing veterinary medicine without a license. Finally, we examine a funny case about an impaired driving charge on an electric scooter and look at a few other instances in which a person might find themselves on the wrong side of a drunk driving law.

It’s sure to be interesting, albeit a little sad at the beginning.

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Traffic fine revenue is unfairly distributed among municipalities in BC

It’s about time we rethink how traffic fine revenue is shared in BC. This funding is shared between various municipalities around the province, with the government acting as arbiter of who gets some and how much. Municipalities ultimately don’t have much say on how big their slice of traffic revenue will be, or even if they get any in the first place. They can argue, they can appeal, but at the end of the day, the provincial government tells them how much they are going to receive. Municipalities lack bargaining chips. All they can do is shut up and take the money. Or not take the money, as is the case for many small towns.

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Presumptions of Regularity: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!

Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses presumptions of regularity in regards to traffic signs.

Acumen Law Corporation lawyer Kyla Lee gives her take on a made-in-Canada court case each week and discusses why these cases should have been heard by Canada’s highest court: the Supreme Court of Canada. …

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Driving Law with Kyla Lee: Episode 23

In this week’s episode of the Driving Law podcast, I speak with Paul Doroshenko of Acumen Law Corporation about a few issues we have previously covered. We start with an update on red light speed cameras in British Columbia, as well as a discussion of the fallout surrounding Edmonton’s use of noise detection cameras and devices. Then, we recap Talk Like a Pirate Day. Finally, Paul and I talk about Bill C-75, which we had discussed in Episode 1.

You can follow us on iTunes, PlayerFM, or on SoundCloud.

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The Twelve Weeks of DRE-Mas: Dark Room Examinations

As I mentioned in an earlier post about the Drug Recognition Evaluation Program, there are a series of steps related to assessing an individual’s eyes. As we’ve already seen, the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus and the Vertical Gaze Nystagmus tests are two such examinations, and each with their own set of flaws and reliability concerns. But there is more than meets the eye to the eye examinations in the DRE.

The next stage involves the assessment of the behaviour of a person’s pupils in response to various lighting conditions. I find this to be one of the more problematic aspects of the test, for reasons that will become clear in this post and in the coming weeks. So without further ado, here’s what happens when you and the officer go into a dark room together.

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Weird and Wacky Wednesdays: Volume Seventeen

This week on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays, a hodgepodge of assorted absurdities. Beginning with the case of a woman who foreshadowed her own crimes. Then, a costumed man is kicked off a plane. And he’s not even from Florida! Finally, we analyze the case of a very honest man who made a series of very bad decisions that you should never ever repeat.

All that and more! (okay, not more) on Weird and Wacky Wednesdays.

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Driving Law with Kyla Lee: Episode Twenty Two

This week on the Driving Law Podcast, I speak with the famed and outspoken cannabis activist, Dana Larsen. We begin our discussion about cannabis impaired driving laws and the science behind them. Then, we move into the area of Dana’s own concerns approaching the issue. But we also have a more wide-ranging discussion about other issues surrounding legalization generally.

You can listen to our very interesting discussion on SoundCloud or PlayerFM. And like always, you can subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode.

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The Twelve Weeks of DRE-Mas: Vital Signs and Second Pulse

As we covered in one of the first posts, the preliminary examination and first pulse are an important step in the manipulation of the Drug Recognition Program results to support impairment. The first pulse is discussed here. But this week, we look at the second pulse that has to be taken, along with blood pressure and the subject’s temperature. After these assessments are complete, the DRE officer will move on to more eye examinations, which we discuss next weeks.

So read on to find out why vital signs are important, and why a second pulse is taken.

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