The federal government has provided $1.4 million to help pump the brakes on drug-impaired driving in the NWT.
The funding will come over five years and support law enforcement training for drug recognition and increase the capacity for field sobriety testing, stated an Aug. 26 news release.
In the NWT, 61 officers will receive training for standardized field sobriety testing and four will receiving drug recognition expert training.
In Canada, 15 per cent of cannabis users with a valid driver's license reported driving within two hours of consuming cannabis, according to combined data from the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019.
Impaired driving is a leading cause of criminal death and injury in Canada, stated the Government of Canada.