The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service now has its first two Drager DrugTest 5000 drug testing devices for use in roadside checks of drivers suspected of being under the influence of marijuana or cocaine.

The units consist of a large bag containing mouth swab kits (necessary for drug impairment tests, in contrast to breathalyzer units used to test for suspected alcohol impairment), the Drager DrugTest 5000 device itself, an attached keyboard and a small printer.

“We have them, they’re in house, they’re ready to go,” said Sault Police Sergeant Ray Magnan in a recent interview with SooToday. “Who it really affects is the young drivers who can have nothing in their system, the G1 and G2 drivers, and the commercial drivers can also have nothing in their system, so they’ll face licence sanctions if they have it in their system at all.” “It’s zero for alcohol, zero for THC as well,” Magnan said.

Officers will be equipped with the Drager DrugTest 5000 during RIDE Programs or other traffic blitzes, or officers may call the Sault Police Service building at any time for the device to be brought to the scene of a roadside check if marijuana impairment is suspected in a driver.

With the Drager DrugTest 5000, Sault Police will have the ability to record a person’s identification details and the circumstances of a roadside check.

When the mouth swab of a driver suspected of driving high is complete, the officer will use the device to check for a positive or negative test result and print out the details of the roadside check, those printed details attached with other documents that will be served to the driver, explained Constable Sonny Spina.

Magnan said the cost to Sault Police to purchase the two devices is “in the area of $4,000 each.”

“We bought these two, however there’s a possibility of some federal government money being made available to purchase more, and we’re going to add more so we can put more on the road. We’d like to have six, so we’re going to ask for an additional four under that funding that’s coming from the federal government,” Magnan said.

Police services nationwide began purchasing roadside drug testing devices before and since recreational marijuana use was legalized in Canada Oct. 17.