Summerside wants more police trained to recognize drug-impaired drivers on P.E.I.

Summerside, P.E.I., is hoping to get more officers trained as soon as possible to recognize drug-impaired drivers in advance of Canada's planned legalization of recreational marijuana.

Deputy chief administrative officer Gordon MacFarlane told CBC News only a handful of city officers are trained and the only available training is in Florida.

"Hopefully ... there will be something that will be able to be done through the Atlantic Police Academy because … no doubt there's going to be a huge demand in Canada for that training," he said.

According to the province, eight officers on the Island had been trained as of last fall to spot drug-impaired drivers. About $500,000 of this year's provincial budget has been dedicated to additional training with a goal of adding seven more drug-recognition officers.

Final test in Florida

MacFarlane said a new report on pot legalization released this week by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is helpful because it outlines potential challenges and regulatory options cities should be weighing.

He said Summerside is exploring options to offer local or regional training, but he added officers will still have to take their final accreditation test in Florida.

"At this point for us it's really the safety issue on the drug-impaired drivers that we're most concerned about and we need to make sure the resources are provided to keep the roads safe."

More P.E.I. news