The Ontario Provincial Police are preparing for this summer's anticipated legalization of marijuana by the federal Liberal government.

Recreational marijuana use was scheduled to be legalized across Canada by July 1. The way was clearned in March with the Senate voting for approval in principle of the federal government’s enabling legislation. However, the final Senate vote is currently scheduled for June 7. The provincial and territorial governments in charge of distribution will likely require an additional eight to 12 weeks to complete preparations to sell the drug. Provincially, Queen's Park passed a bill in December creating a provincial agency that will distribute and retail pot through storefronts and online.

When the Petawawa Police Services Board presented their year-end report last week, Councillor James Carmody expressed his concerns over legalization.

“We haven't heard much about how this is going to be policed in terms of impaired driving,” said Carmody who posed a question to the board about steps that are being taken to ensure enforcement.

Inspector Stefan Neufeld, commander of the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP Detachment, said that the biggest impact with legalization will be the dangers of increased impaired driving by drug noting you don't have to look any further than the U.S. state of Colorado.

“When they legalized it, emergency rooms were overrun by injuries,” explained Neufeld. “Their health care system was overwhelmed.”

The province is putting together protocols and standards for roadside testing. The detachment is sending officers on courses to qualify them as Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE). Unlike breathalyzer tests for alcohol, there is currently no roadside drug impairment test available in Canada. Neufeld said there are instruments that are being tested to determine if a person has consumed drugs. In addition, every recruit coming out of police college will be trained in standard field sobriety testing.

“We are well aware of the potential impact this could have on the community and we're doing our best to have people with the right training in place for when it does happen,”

According to a recent Denver Post report, the number of fatal crashes linked to marijuana has risen sharply since 2013, but health officials there say they can’t definitively link the spike with legalization. The number of drivers who were involved in fatal crashes and tested positive for marijuana rose from 47 in 2013 to 115 in 2016. The sale of marijuana became legal in the state on Jan. 1, 2014.