Summerside wants more police trained to recognize drug-impaired drivers on P.E.I.

Summerside, P.E.I., is hoping to get more officers trained as soon as possible to recognize drug-impaired drivers in advance of Canada's planned legalization ofrecreational marijuana.

Deputy chief administrative officer GordonMacFarlanetold CBC News only a handful of city officers are trainedand the only available trainingis in Florida.

"Hopefully ... there will be something that will be able to be done through the Atlantic Police Academy because no doubt there's going to be a huge demand in Canada for that training," he said.

According to the province, eight officers on the Island had been trained as of last fall to spot drug-impaired drivers. About $500,000 of this year's provincial budget has been dedicated to additional trainingwith a goal of adding seven more drug-recognition officers.

Final test in Florida

MacFarlane said a new report on pot legalization released this week by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities is helpfulbecauseit outlines potential challenges and regulatory options cities should be weighing.

He saidSummerside is exploring options to offer local or regional training, but he addedofficers will still have to take their final accreditation test in Florida.

"At this point for us it's really the safety issue on the drug-impaired drivers that we're most concerned about and we need to make sure the resources are provided to keep the roads safe."

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