Drug Driving – Fake Danger?

Although the offence of drug driving has been around since 2015, I suspect that the vast majority of the nation’s motorists have no knowledge of the drug driving limits and the quantity and timing of drug consumption that would lead to a drug driving charge.

Cannabis is by far the most common drug we see on a day to day basis. Many people, especially young people, believe that cannabis is a far less harmful drug than alcohol in terms of long term side effects and dangers to health and others. I am not about to disagree with this school of thought nor endorse it. However, what I do know is that when the drug driving limits were introduced, timing was clearly very deliberate. In my view, the unintended consequences of this politically motivated project deserve to be reconsidered.

The newspaper headlines around this time were full of praise for the conservative politicians responsible for introducing a “Zero tolerance” law that would apprehend and remove “drug crazed motorists” from the road.

Forgive my cynicism but could those headlines have had anything to do with the fact that there was a general election looming 2 months later????

A year after the introduction of the drug drive laws, there was a reported unprecedented number of arrests for drug driving in England and Wales – 7800 according to this article.

The numbers have increased dramatically over the years with 12,391 drug driving convictions reported in 2019.

These events happened well before the term “fake news” became commonplace in our culture. None of the numbers are, in fact, fake. However, when we examine the danger presented by the majority of those arrested for a drug driving offence, the vast majority of motorists actually pose no threat on the roads but instead have residual drugs measured for the purpose of prosecution that is, in many cases, of such a low level, it is likely caused by consumption of cannabis from hours if not days before driving. Well after there would be any effect on the motorist’s ability to drive as safely as they could with no drugs in the system.

There was a government consultation that invited views from medical and legal practitioners before introducing the zero tolerance approach to illegal drugs but the majority were against applying a zero tolerance approach. These views were largely ignored:

To explain the problem with drug driving in more detail, there were 3 options proposed by the consultation before introducing drug driving limits:

The Covid 19 pandemic has exposed all sorts of issues and conflicts between science and politics. However, this problem is an age old one and as is revealed by the response to the government’s consultation on drug driving, the politicians seemed to get their way pushed through without much of a fight.

This dissenting view was not given much air time as after all, who cares about those “silly people” who choose to take illegal drugs and then have the audacity to get behind the wheel of a car? The problem with this is that in my experience, those “silly people” are usually people who have no idea that the drug driving limits are not linked to being impaired. The most common clients we help are otherwise law abiding people who had no intention or knowledge of the drug driving limits and consequences of being apprehended when over the limit.

The consequences of a drug driving conviction are significant!

A minimum 12 month ban and fine are the most obvious ramifications but there are several lesser known problems that stem from a drug driving conviction.

If convicted, this is a criminal conviction that will show on a DBS check and will likely impact an offender’s career prospects especially if in a regulated profession.

A conviction for drug driving will result in insurance increases. Travel to many countries, including USA, will become extremely difficult, if not impossible.

If you or a loved one is facing prosecution for drug driving, you may want to try out our hidden costs calculator to see exactly how this could impact you.

The following article that appears on the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Road Safety website highlights the issue.

The article also reveals that many convictions relate to re-offenders. This is probably due to a known phenomenon of the police targeting motorists who have a prior arrest or conviction.

Sadly, when there are far more pressing issues like food shortages and Covid, the impact of the drug driving limits on otherwise law abiding motorists is likely at the bottom of the government’s priority list.

We appreciate that whether it is you or a relative facing a drug driving prosecution, it can be daunting and frightening to think of the consequences outlined in this article hailing down on you some time soon.

Our track record in defending drug driving charges may be the first glimmer of hope you encounter when you do your online research into your options.

Please do not suffer in silence. Give our team of empathetic and professional lawyers a call to establish the options available to you.