P.E.I. man gets jail for driving company vehicle while impaired by cannabis
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CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Driving an organization automobile whereas impaired by hashish greater than double the authorized restrict has led to jail time for a P.E.I. man.
Stephen Allan MacLean, 36, pleaded responsible to impaired driving and was sentenced on June 19 in provincial courtroom in Charlottetown.
The details
On Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022, at 12:20 p.m., an RCMP officer was stopped at a pink mild close to the Irving gasoline station on Riverside Drive in Charlottetown, stated Crown lawyer Molly Murphy. Stopped in entrance of the police officer was an Island Coastal Providers automobile pushed by MacLean.
The police officer’s window was rolled down and he may odor burnt hashish coming from the course of the automobile. When the sunshine turned inexperienced, the police officer adopted the corporate automobile. At one level, the officer noticed a puff of smoke exiting the driving force’s aspect window together with one other sturdy odor of burnt hashish. Consequently, the police officer pulled over the automobile on the Stratford aspect of the Hillsborough Bridge, stated Murphy.
Because the officer approached the automobile, he may nonetheless odor burnt hashish and noticed MacLean attempt to mild a cigarette. The officer believed that lighting a cigarette was an try to masks the odor of hashish or alcohol, stated Murphy.
MacLean confirmed indicators of impairment and examined optimistic for THC after offering a saliva pattern right into a roadside screening machine. MacLean additionally admitted to the police officer that he had not too long ago smoked hashish. A male co-worker was additionally within the automobile’s passenger seat.
The arrest
MacLean was arrested and brought to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to offer blood samples at 1:20 p.m.
The blood evaluation outcomes confirmed that MacLean’s THC stage was 11.1 nanograms (ng) in a single millilitre of blood – greater than double the authorized restrict of 5 ng.
MacLean has a previous conviction and sentence in 2007 for impaired driving, stated Murphy. MacLean represented himself in courtroom.
MacLean stated that on account of the 2007 impaired driving conviction, he not drinks alcohol. As an alternative, he has used hashish day by day – not as a leisure drug however to deal with points.
MacLean stated he misplaced his job with Island Coastal on account of the incident however is now working full-time for one more building firm.
He then requested Choose Nancy Orr if he may serve the jail sentence on weekends.
“How are you going to do this if you happen to use marijuana on daily basis?” requested Orr, explaining that he cannot have hashish or alcohol in his system for 72 hours previous to going to the jail. If he exams optimistic for hashish on the jail, he may face extra felony prices.
“We strive to not set folks up for failure,” Orr stated.
MacLean stated he understood the danger of failing a urine check however nonetheless wished a weekend sentence. He stated he would cease utilizing hashish previous to going to the jail.
The sentence
Choose Nancy Orr sentenced MacLean to fifteen days in jail to be served on weekends. Orr famous that driving an organization automobile whereas being paid and impaired was an aggravating issue at sentencing.
Along with the jail time, MacLean was fined $1,500 plus a $450 sufferer surcharge. He was additionally banned from driving for one 12 months plus the time in jail. His weekend jail sentence started on Friday, June 23 at 6 p.m.
Terrence McEachern is a justice reporter with SaltWire in Prince Edward Island. He might be reached by e mail at [email protected] and might be adopted on Twitter @terry_mcn.
