Unconstitutional due to the instant conviction by an officer on the side of the road, without the legal safety nets that society relies on.
We always need a way to easily dispute actions done by the police. If the police accuse you of something, they need to have proper evidence of the illegal action, plus the defendant(victim) needs to be able to instantly dispute any ticket and not be forced to be convicted on the spot by a police officer.
With the case of being convicted by a hand held breathalyser that could potentially be faulty or contaminated, well the government and police see instant savings by avoiding the legal system, in order to instantly convict people. And with more instant convictions on the books, well the propaganda will fly out of the government and police offices like a manure spreader on a hot day.
The court documents.
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/11/16/2011BCSC1639.htm#_Toc310333396
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/tough+impaired+driving+rules+declared+unconstitutional+part+judge+rules/5790600/story.html
Justice Jon Sigurdson said sections of the Motor Vehicle Act trample on the rights of drivers who blow over .08 on a roadside-screening device because the law does not provide a proper appeal process and relies on what amounts to an illegal search-and-seizure.
Drivers who ask for a review are prohibited from questioning the reliability of the screening device and their grounds of appeal are severely restricted, the justice said, so the charter breach can’t be sanctioned given the heavy penalties they face.
“This is particularly so considering the province has legislated to base the consequences of a ‘fail’ reading entirely on the results of the screening device.”
What comes from this decision is that treating people like 'instant convicts', by the officer acting as judge, jury, and executioner, is illegal.
Roadblocks are still illegal and unconstitutional, but Judges allow roadblocks for their supposed safety.
http://bccla.org/pressreleases/03surreyroadblock.html
Government mandates roadblocks, instead of doing things to curtail alcohol serving/sales hours at the bars and cold beer stores and sporting events.
The police like roadblocks as it cuts back on fuel, cuts down on tire wear and reduces patrolling all the areas of their jurisdiction(noting that Judges have ruled that roadblocks are only for looking for impaired drivers and not for the officer looking in your vehicle and insinuating that the DVD player of yours in the back seat is stolen. Or forcing the occupants to open the trunk and various containers to see inside without a warrant).
There are places in the U.S., that due to budget cuts, is the police are refusing to answer some 911 calls.
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Legalizing Marijuana results in less accidents and less fights and less crazies that come from alcohol consumption. The alcohol and pharmaceutical lobby's do not want to lose business/money, so marijuana legalization is constantly fought against, behind closed doors. Open government is not open government.
http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_19437417
The passage of state medical-marijuana laws is associated with a subsequent drop in the rate of traffic fatalities, according to a newly released study by two university professors.
The study — by University of Colorado Denver professor Daniel Rees and Montana State University professor D. Mark Anderson — found that the traffic-death rate drops by nearly 9 percent in states after they legalize marijuana for medical use. The researchers arrived at that figure, Rees said, after controlling for other variables such as changes in traffic laws, seat-belt usage and miles driven. The study stops short of saying the medical-marijuana laws cause the drop in traffic deaths.
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-medical-marijuana-laws-traffic-deaths.html
Simply: People who smoke marijuana tend to be more relaxed.
Edit feb 2012: there is a fraudulant article that has been put out, saying that lots and lots of people who crashed had marijuana in their systems. Look at the numbers for the 'study'(very low THC numbers). Their numbers are actually for someone who hasn't smoked marijuana for about 20 days. Instead of using numbers(high THC) that show that the person has smoked marijuana in the past hour.
