Drug Driving | More drug tests, more places, more often

Drug driving is a serious road safety issue.

Drivers and riders with stimulants and/or THC in their system made up 19% and 10.3% of road deaths respectively in 2018.

If you intend to drive, the safest option is to have no alcohol or other drugs in your system. There is no safe level of drug use when driving. Use of any drug always carries some risk. This includes any prescription medicines that impact driving ability, such as medications that may make you drowsy. It’s also important to remember that fatigue, and the after-effects of drug use (i.e. ’coming down’), can affect your driving skills.

Most drugs can take 24 to 48 hours to leave your body and will continue to affect you during this time. Mixing illicit or prescription drugs and alcohol will mean that the affects can take even longer to wear off.

Many people believe that if they use illicit drugs and drive they won’t be caught. Yet the chances are higher than ever with Victoria Police conducting more roadside drug tests than ever before. In the 2019/20 financial year 150,000 tests will be conducted all across the state.

How do drugs affect driving ability?

There are different ways that drugs will affect your driving ability, and if you combine drugs these affects can become even more dangerous.

Cannabis – can slow down a person’s reaction time, distort perception of speed and distance and reduce concentration and coordination when driving.

Heroin – users will be drowsy for several hours; mental function is clouded; heart function slows; breathing is also severely slowed, sometimes enough to be life-threatening. Spatial awareness and cognitive impairment can impact the driver’s ability to perform the complex task of driving.

Methamphetamine (ICE), MDMA (ecstasy) and cocaine – can lead to over-confidence, rash decision making and risk taking. Insomnia caused from ICE and cocaine can affect a driver’s reflexes and concentration.

Hallucinogens – affect hearing and sight as well as the perception of time, distance and movement, and they can make a person sense things that don’t exist.

Multiple (poly) drug use – using a combination of drugs can lead to extreme and varied effects such as dramatically slowed reaction times, visual distortion, inability to judge speeds and distances, and risk taking.

Visit The Alcohol and Drug Foundation website for more information on specific drugs and their effect on driving.

If you or someone you know needs support:

Directline: 1800 888 236

Family Drug Support: 1300 368 186

Penalties

If you get caught driving with drugs in your system you will have your licence suspended or cancelled.

The minimum penalty is:

Loss of licence for 6 months
A fine of $496
Compulsory completion of a Behaviour Change Program.

The penalties will increase if you are caught more than once, or if other offences are detected. You could lose your licence for a year and face thousands of dollars in fines.

You can read more about penalties on the VicRoads website

FAQ

What drugs are detected using the roadside test?
- THC (Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol), the active component in cannabis
- Methamphetamine, which is found in drugs such as ’speed’, ’base’, ‘ice’, and ‘crystal meth’
- MDMA, which is known as ecstasy
What about drugs that aren’t detected by the roadside test?

If Victoria Police believe that you are driving while impaired they may ask you to complete a Standard Impairment Test. You may then be asked undertake a blood test which will detect any substances that you have used. There is a separate charge for driving while impaired and it also carries severe penalties.
How long after using an illicit drug will it take for me to provide a negative result?

It’s hard to know for sure how long drugs will remain in your system, it will vary from person to person and will depend on how much and which drug you have consumed. This is why if you have taken drugs you should not drive.
The tests work to detect drugs in saliva for several hours after use. After approximately 24-48 hours it is unlikely that oral fluid will detect cannabis, MDMA or methamphetamine.
While you may no longer feel the effect of the drug, or feel impaired, the drug may still be present in your system. For example, if you take an illicit drug you could feel the high for a few hours, and then ‘come down’ quite some time later and feel drowsy. This is a side-effect of the drugs leaving your system after the high, and your driving ability will still be impaired.
The best place to find up-to-date information is the Alcohol & Drug Foundation website
Why isn't the law built around people being impaired by drugs rather than drugs still being in a person's system?
It is an offence to drive under the influence of an illicit drug or to drive while impaired by any drug, whether it is legal or illicit. A positive result for an oral fluid test indicates that there has been recent drug use. Drug concentrations can only be determined through a blood sample.
In countries such as Canada where they can detect concentration levels the testing is a lot more invasive and has to be done through a blood sample. By using oral fluid testing Victoria Police is able to detect recent illicit drug use in a quick (<5min) and non-invasive way.
There are two types of charges for drug use while driving, these are:
- Exceed PCD (oral fluid).This offence is when the oral fluid sample of a driver simply contains this illicit substance. This results in 6-month suspension for a first offence.
- Drive while impaired by drugs (Impairment assessment and blood sample) Certificate of Drug effect by approved expert. 12 months disqualification.
What about prescription medication?

It’s worth remembering that prescription drugs can be dangerous too. If you’re on medication and not sure if your driving will be affected check with your doctor or pharmacist. Victoria’s new SafeScript service is also available for people concerned about their use of prescription medicines.
Contact the Safe Script helpline on 1800 737 233 or visit their website
You can find out more information on prescription medication and driving on the TAC website
How do random roadside drug tests work?
Victoria Police have the right to pull drivers over at any time and test their saliva for traces of illicit drugs including THC, the active component in cannabis, methamphetamines and ecstasy. You can be tested by all Victoria Police officers including motorcycle, highway patrol and unmarked vehicles.
1. Drivers are asked to provide a saliva sample by placing a small absorbent pad on their tongue for a few seconds
2. The sample is analysed at the roadside, this takes about 3 minutes.
3. Drivers with a positive result are asked to undertake a further test
4. If this test is also positive, the sample is sent to a lab for confirmation
5. The lab will confirm the positive result and the driver will be officially charged.
The saliva tests do not detect prescription drugs or common medications such as cold and flu tablets.

Drug driving is a serious road safety issue.

How do drugs affect driving ability?

Penalties

FAQ

Related Articles