Drug test false positives

Photo: CTV News

New roadside drug screening devices can return false positives for people who haven't used drugs, a Vancouver law firm warns.

Acumen Law purchased one of the Drager DrugTest 5000 units and put it to the test, CTV News reports.

The machine returned a positive for opiates on a person who had just eaten a poppy seed muffin.

Lawyer Paul Doroshenko drank a tea, and says a saliva test afterwards was positive for cocaine.

And a third person consumed a CBD cannabis extract that doesn’t produce a high, and tested positive for THC.

"We've done some tests that we can do, and we will continue to, but ultimately it probably raised more questions for us than answers," Doroshenko told CTV.

Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnsworth responds: "They said they have gone through comprehensive testing, that it's a technology that's used in many other jurisdictions ... But I've said all along, whenever something like that is introduced I fully expect it is going to be challenged."

The Department of Justice, meanwhile, says the machines underwent rigorous testing before approval and has no plans for further evaluation.

The department says the Canadian version of the device only tests for cocaine and cannabis, and not opiates.

Police departments in Canada have yet to begin using the machines.

– with files from CTV Vancouver