Why the impaired cannabis charge laid in a Saskatoon girl's death could be challenged in court

A criminal defence lawyer says measuring the level of THC in blood to determine guilt could be challenged in court.

Mark Brayford says arguing cannabis impairment is not as cut-and-dry as alcohol.

“The difficulty is that the amount of THC that might impair someone one day may not the next day — which is different than alcohol,” the lawyer tells CTV News.

“If someone is typically drunk and impaired at 150 milligrams one day, they are probably going to be impaired much the same any other day.”

On Sept. 9, 2021, nine-year-old Baeleigh Maurice was crossing a marked crosswalk on her scooter on 33rd Street West when she was hit by a truck.

The 28-year-old driver was charged with “impaired operation while exceeding the prescribed blood-drug concentration of THC causing death.”

Saskatoon police are pictured at 33rd Street West on Sept. 9, 2021.

While charges involving alcohol as an impairment have been laid in the past, Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Justice says this is the first cannabis impairment causing death charge laid since the new federal cannabis legislation came into force in 2019.

Personal injury lawyer Jonathan Abrametz says he’s interested to see how the evidence holds up in court.

Abrametz says if there’s a conviction, he anticipates a lawsuit by the child’s family to follow.

“But before that can happen, there has to be a conviction of impaired driving. And a conviction on a cannabis charge can be a winding road,” he said.

The woman is set to make her first court appearance in April, when her name will be released.