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York Regional Police investigate a crash that claimed the life of an 86-year-old Tottenham man in Whitchurch- Stoufivifle Thursday afternoon. 'Rvo vehicles, one driven by a woman on Woodbine Avenue and another driven by the deceased on St. John’s Road collided near the intersection, according to traflic bureau Stafi ‘Sgt. Brad Bulmer. Unique Opportunities to Make A Difference By Providing (are And Support In The Home For Families Dealing Wrth A Serious Illness. Volunteers: 0 Live In Markham 0r WhitchurchStouftville 0 Are Proficient In English(0ther language An Asset) 0 Make At Least A I Year Commitment 0 Receive 35hours Iraining In Hospice Palliative (are Chinese And South Asian Volunteers Are Particularly Needed. At Evergreen Hospice(Hwy 7 8 Markham Road) For More Information Call Our Office At 905.472.5014 0r Visit Our Website www.mgreenhospiceorg If you or your child suffers from LEARNING DISABILITIES then attending this free symposium may be the most important thing you do this year. You will discover the true cause of these conditions and natural solutions and options you can use right away to overcome them. Many children and adults with ADD and Dyslexia have seen significant improvement without medication. Dr. Turner is an inter- national speaker and lecturer who has been featured on the OM! Petty Show, National News, Canada AM, CFI'O News, Marilyn Denis CITYLINEandRIIey Live. He will present a free symposium on Thurs. January 14'" at 7:30 pn’u. ait the Stouffville Health Centre, 6219 Main Street. Calthomvaywmtstoday! Volunteers Needed IACINAl-SYOU'IVILLI 3 P46 'ergreeW No Insurance, stolen Iloence plates, York Regional Police charge A 46-year-old Whitchurch-Stouffville man has been charged with two counts of possession of prop- erty obtained by crime and one count of operating a motor vehicle without insurance. The charges were laid just after midnight on Jan. 3 when a York Regional Police officer was on patrol in the Ninth Line and Bethesda Road area just north of Stouffville. The police officer stopped a vehicle for a routine traffic check and discovered it had stolen licence plates affixed to it. It was also discovered the driver did not have insurance. Wbmtaprownmbamdnssmlyammfimrwmw MWWGMHWRW) FaMm WWWWNW’SJHWH OrVisitOmWobsih mmm'omrs owmmmwmmmmm ~mmmmwhmwm MMQMGM OMWMWMMMM MWIWMMM mmmmvmmms OTMHFIMMMII wrunomwsmm mmmmm WMMMMMMAWMM IAIIIIl-IIII' I‘ll STAFF PHOTO/MIKE BARRETT The beer glasses pounding down. one by one, until tires screech and an inevitable crashing sound. BY 10!! PANTAUZZI jfantauzzi@yrmg.com Many of us have seen the com- mercials. The well-publicized war against motorists, blitzed from booze, has beenwagedforyearsbylawenforoe- ment and advocacy groups such as Mothers Against Drunk But, the battle against drivers impaired by other kinds of intoxi- cants is a fairly recent development. York Regional Police say their drug recognition expert program is nationally recognized and one of itsoficersisworkingwiththeRoyal Canadian Mounted Police, to teach Mounties how to identify drug- related impairment. York pdlice employ 30 drug rec- ognition expert oficers: _ _ Before provisions of federal leg- islation Bill C-2 became law in July 2008, police could not demand a test from drivers police suspected were impaired by drugs, said Sgt Ed Villamere, a York police drug recognition expert, during a recent interview at the force's traffic bureau office in Aurora Now, Sgt. Villamere said police in York can demand three things of a motorist suspected of being impaired by drugs: 0 to submit to sobriety testing; 0 to perform an evaluation by a drug recognition expert; and, Impairment by drugs doesn't just mean street drugs. It can also include prescriptions if someone uses medication in a way that is not recommended by their doctor. ovto prévide a urine sample to be analyzed. “People selfimedicate all the time,” Sgt. Vlllamere said. “The last JUSTICE: York expert teaching Mounties Police target drugged drivers ‘Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes they roll down the window and there’s a cloud of smoke that comes out the window! two evaluations I’ve done for 2009 have both been for impaired driv- ing by prescription medication. You could take too much cough syrup and not be able to drive." The annual York police festive R.I.D.E. program launched in late November. Duringâ€"the second week of the blitz, two impaired-by-drugs arrests were made by officers on patrol. The most recent York police statistics show that since Nov. 23, more than 18,000 vehicles have been stopped, more than 160 roadside tests have been administered and eight drug- related charges have been laid. Sgt. Villamere recalled a recent traffic stop of a suspected drug- impaired driver. While there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the driv- ers with impairment, in each case Sgt. Villamere laid drug possession charges. Red flags include drowsiness from depressants, such as alcohol, and crack has been known to make users agitated, he said. But it’s often a less-obvious indi- cator that raises an officer's suspi- cions, such as little eye contact or how co-operative someone is. However, those charges did not necessarily all involve motorists driv- ing while impaired by dings. “Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes they roll down the window and there’s a cloud of smoke that comes out," Sgt. Villamere said. “One of the tests for a (drug rec- ognition expert) evaluation is an eye test and that’s done in a dark room so, you’re locking yourself in a room in pitch-dark conditions with some- one who is in custody. You obviously don't want them to go sideways when they’re in a small room in the dark. So you've always got another officer with you for officer safety purposes. Just in case. “You sort of do your best to put them at ease as best you can." Sgt. Villamere said. Officer safety is also top of mind for drug recognition expert officers since a lot of the testing has to be done in close quarters. ’ And. to those who claim they're more relaxed or a better driver after smoking a joint? “Thai’s absolute false," he said. “It is still impaired giving. Impaired is impaired.” Sgt. Ed Villamere, York Regional Police