A man in Winnipeg who was swept up in a recent police effort to target people shopping at cannabis stores says his driver’s licence was suspended despite not being under the influence of cannabis. 

Sean Vipond, 30, recently told CBC that he was one of the 97 people swept up by Winnipeg Police who were targeting people that police said were shopping at cannabis stores.

Despite testing positive for cannabis in the roadside stop, Vipond says he was not impaired by cannabis, not having consumed it for nearly a full day prior to being pulled over in February after stopping at a cannabis store. 

“[Police] told me to my face that there was no visible reason for suspicion,” Vipoind told CBC. “It was just purely on the basis of I had bought weed and then drove.”

“To see [Winnipeg police] boasting about this and acting like everybody who was caught was … recklessly smoking during the day and driving high, when that’s really not the reality of it — it’s humiliating,” he added.

In April, Police in Winnipeg said they had been targeting cannabis store customers as part of an ongoing impaired driving enforcement campaign. 

Between January and March 2025, the Winnipeg Police Service Central Traffic Division launched an enforcement campaign that they say focused on drivers under the influence of cannabis and other illicit drugs. 

During the campaign, officers conducted 302 traffic stops and administered 207 drug screening tests using approved screening equipment. Nearly half of those drivers (97) tested positive for recent cannabis consumption. This was similar to the rate of those tested in a similar campaign in 2024. 

All drivers, including Vipond, faced an immediate roadside suspension of their licence. Only one driver was said to have been charged criminally for refusing to be tested.

During a press conference in April, Winnipeg Police Patrol Sgt. Stephane Fontaine said that he focused the campaign on areas around the more than 100 cannabis stores in Winnipeg. 

“There are over 130 or so dispensaries throughout the City of Winnipeg, so what I did was I made a plan to basically target those areas where there’s dispensaries and we watched the traffic coming to and from those known shops,” Fontaine said. “The officers still have to form the proper grounds to make all of their lawful demands… but that’s where they spent their time.”

He also noted that many of these individuals were testing positive on their way to a cannabis store, although he did not indicate how officers knew their destination. Fontaine added that most drivers who tested positive for THC were found between 3 pm and 6 pm, which he notes is different from enforcement against those impaired by alcohol.

StratCann sent a request for further information to the Winnipeg Police Service in April, asking for more info into how Winnipeg Police selected vehicles for drug screening tests, or how they had determined if a driver was on their way to a cannabis store, but was told that as the questions speak to “operational tactics” they will not be able to respond.

Winnipeg Police say they used an oral swab to detect cannabis. The accuracy of oral swab tests and blood tests has been challenged by different researchers. A 2014 study found that THC could be detected in oral fluid for up to eight days after admission, leading to false positives.    

A 2024 study in Ontario looking at the effects of edible cannabis on simulated driving and blood THC levels found that driving impairment was not correlated with blood THC. 

Police in Winnipeg recommend not driving for 12 hours after consuming edible cannabis products. 

Penalties for driving while impaired by cannabis can include: criminal charges, loss of one’s driver’s licence, vehicle impoundment, and fines. Police can use both oral testing equipment and assessments by Drug Recognition Officers. 

In Canada, drivers with over two nanograms of THC but under five nanograms of THC per millilitre of blood can face a straight summary conviction offence. 

Drivers found with over five nanograms of THC in their blood can face a drug-alone hybrid offence.

Drivers found with at or over 2.5 ng of THC per ml of blood combined with 50 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood can face a hybrid offence.

The penalty for the summary conviction offence is a maximum fine of $1,000. 

The penalties for the two hybrid offences are the same as for alcohol-impaired driving. These include mandatory minimum penalties of a $1,000 fine for a first offence, 30 days imprisonment for a second offence, and 120 days imprisonment for a third offence.

Harrison Jordan, the managing lawyer of Substance Law, a law firm focusing on regulated substances, including cannabis, tells StratCann that he could see future attempted challenges to the law behind such charges, but notes that court decisions thus far have not struck down the law. 

”While consumption may not necessarily equal impairment when it comes to cannabis, it’s the best corollary law enforcement has right now,” he explains, noting the evidence on such testing determining impairment is mixed. 

“Unless and until the science becomes crystal clear or there is some better, more reliable, scalable and deployable way to measure impairment instead of just blood levels more precisely, we’re likely to have this framework remain in place. A judge is going to be super-cautious about removing a tool that law enforcement says is effective at detecting and deterring risky driving. Someone charged with at least 2 nanograms but less than 5, which is a straight summary offence, may have a slightly easier time attempting to challenge that offence, as the degree of evidence that blood level is correlated with impairment or increased risk of vehicular accidents is likely lower than the evidence for 5 nanograms and above, which is viewed as a more serious hybrid offence.”

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