CIC Lecture: Cannabis Impaired Driving

When: Tues. Nov. 26th, 2019

Where: U of A Chem building – Room E3-25

Time:   6:30 PM Networking; 7 PM Talk

‘Life as a Forensic Scientist” – Cannabis-Impaired Driving’ Guest

Kathy Janzen, P.Chem., Executive Director, ACPA

Abstract

With the legalization of Cannabis, the consumption of cannabis products is expected to increase significantly. This will likely result in an increase in workplace impairment and impaired driving due to cannabis. Kathy will provide a brief review of cannabis products and their basic chemistry. She will also discuss the analysis of cannabinoids in body fluids, the impairing effects of cannabis and the expected corresponding legal changes in law enforcement.

Bio

Before she became the executive director for the ACPA, Kathy Janzen worked for25 years as a forensic toxicologist with the RCMP Forensic Laboratory in Edmonton.During her career as a toxicologist, she analyzed body fluids and other substances for the presence of drugs and poisons; wrote reports and opinion letters; and testified as an expert witness regarding the effects of various drugs on the human body. This included the analysis of cannabis plant materials, as well as cannabinoids in blood and urine of impaired drivers.

Kathy is a Fellow of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science and past-president of the Association of the Chemical Profession of Alberta