Driving under the influence of drugs

The defendant was stopped for speeding.  The police officer claimed she smelt cannabis and that the defendant’s pupils were constricted.  He was arrested and put through various tests by the police surgeon and subsequently charged with driving under the influence of drugs

Barry Millard faced a charge of driving a motor vehicle whilst unfit to drive through drugs. His trial took place at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court on the 3^rd of July 2006.

The prosecution case was that when the WPC stopped Mr Millard she smelt cannabis and noticed his pupils were extremely constricted. The blood sample taken contained THC and Mr Millard was assessed by a surgeon as unfit following various tests including walking, turning, one leg stand, and finger and nose tests.

In evidence, Mr Millard stated that one of his passengers had been smoking a reefer cigarette and had handed him the reefer end to throw out of the window. He’d subsequently been stopped by the police officer for speeding and she said she could smell cannabis but he explained he didn’t have any cannabis on him but had just thrown a reefer end out of the window. She said she noticed his pupils were extremely constricted. He was taken back to the police station and given various tests that he felt he’d performed fairly well. The police surgeon was cross-examined on the tests carried out from a paper by the Transport Research Laboratory entitled ‘Recognising Drug Use and Drug Related Impairment in Drivers at the Roadside’ and was unaware that cannabis dilates the pupils of the eye. It was submitted to the court that Barry had performed reasonably on the tests and that the prosecution hadn’t established he was unfit to drive and he was acquitted.

In cases like this it is important to cross-examine the police surgeon very carefully regarding their tests and their results, and in particular that cannabis dilates the eye pupil rather than constricts it.