Source: Radio New Zealand
The testing got underway in Wellington on Monday. File picture. RNZ / Alexander Robertson
The first day of roadside drug testing has been welcomed as a great day for police.
The testing got underway in Wellington on Monday, and will be rolled out to the rest of the country next year.
Roadside saliva tests will be carried out for four drugs – THC (present in cannabis), methamphetamine, MDMA (also known as ecstasy or molly) and cocaine.
Superintendent Steve Greally told Morning Report it was the first time police had had the power to test drivers for drug use.
“We know full well drugs account for about 30 percent of fatal crashes.”
NZTA research has found alcohol and other drugs contributed to 30 percent of fatal crashes, 20 percent of serious injury crashes and 12 percent of minor injury crashes.
Drug testing was combined with alcohol breath testing for the first tests, Greally said.
He said feedback so far had been positive, despite the 10 minutes the roadside drug testing can take.
“People understand why we’re doing it. Nobody wants to share the road with somebody who is impaired by drugs or alcohol or any other reason for that matter.”
On bigger breath testing operations “it may not be the best thing to do” to combine both tests, given the time the saliva tests take, Greally said.
But he said there could be drug testing at any time or location.
“It’s about anywhere anytime – it’s making sure anybody understands that if they are consuming drugs whether they be illicit drugs or prescription medication that might be taken in excess of the prescribed amount, then they will be caught.”
Medicinal cannabis users advised to talk to their GP
Concerns thousands of medicinal cannabis patients could be caught up in the testing have yet to be allayed.
Greally said police recognised legitimate medicinal cannabis users, and the tests were designed to detect recent use “not past exposure or use a week ago”.
Medicinal patients needed to have a conversation with their medical practitioners about safe use for driving, he said.
There was a defence in the legislation for medicinal users, which was “really helpful”, but would not avoid people receiving infringements regardless of legal prescriptions, Greally said.
The thresholds for both illicit and prescription drug were devised by an expert panel that included representatives from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Environmental Science and Research and an independent forensic toxicologist, and were based on European, New Zealand and Australian standards.
“This medical defence will enable anybody who has a legitimate reason to have this in their system to provide that and in some cases will have their infringement waived,” Greally said.
How do the tests work?
Returning two positive roadside saliva tests could result in a 12-hour driving ban.
Saliva tests would then be sent to a laboratory, where tests would be run for all 25 drugs added to the Land Transport Act as part of the new law, which included common sleeping pills such as zopiclone and temazepam, and painkillers including tramadol, oxycodone and codeine.
If levels above legal thresholds were confirmed, it would result in an infringement notice, including a $200 fine and 50 demerit points, the presence of two or more drugs would result in a $400 fine and 75 demerit points.
If a saliva test was refused or police requested a blood test, the consequences could be more severe.
If a blood sample breached the “high risk” threshold under the legislation, penalties included a $4500 fine, up to three months in prison and a mandatory six-month licence disqualification.
Refusing to comply with roadside drug testing would result in an infringement notice that included a $400 fine and 75 licence demerit points, as well as being forbidden to drive for 12 hours.
Penalties for those who tested positive for both and alcohol had been introduced, and were usually higher to reflect the higher crash risk, police said.
Infringements could only be appealed by legal medicinal users after the fact using a medical defence by providing a prescription or ID card from a prescriber.
Warnings over test efficacy
Cannabis Clinic founder and chief executive Dr Waseem Alzaher previously told Morning Report he feared the lack of impairment testing meant patients taking prescribed cannabis safely and under medical supervision could be punished.
It’s thought there are around 120,000 to130,000 New Zealanders being prescribed medicinal cannabis.
Cannabis is the country’s most commonly used drug, with more than half a million (675,000) adults using it in the 12 months prior according to the most recent data from the New Zealand Health Survey, wastewater testing and the New Zealand Drug Trends Survey.
Australian researcher Dr Michael White, an adjunct senior fellow at the School of Psychology at the University of Adelaide who has researched road accidents involving cannabis, said the tests were nearly worthless when it came to picking up if someone was impaired.
“There’s a lot of research that says regular cannabis users are not impaired even if immediately after taking it so that produces … questions of justice.
“It is a scattergun approach, many people who are regular users won’t be impaired even if they test positive,” Dr White said.
The NZ Drug Foundation warned many medicinal cannabis users could be caught out, given the drug can show up even three days after use.
Others, such as senior biosciences lecturer Dr Catherine Crofts raised concerns about legal users of other drugs, such as those taking ADHD medication containing amphetamine – such as dexamphetamine or lisdexamfetamine – which around half of New Zealanders taking ADHD medication currently use.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
