Drug Driving Offence – 1 Year On

The new drug driving offence came in 1 year ago today (2 March 2015). Despite widespread media coverage and my own attempt to highlight the major changes the new drug driving offence would bring to anyone who dabbles in the consumption of illegal substances, Cheshire police reported a whopping 800% increase in drug driving arrests.

The reason for this increase is not down to a sudden surge in drug use amongst the nation’s motorists but instead, the police’s job has been simplified by the use of the handheld drugalyser that can detect the presence of cannabis and cocaine from a saliva test. Prior to March 2015, arrests were far more of a challenge and would follow a US style sobriety test or impairment test.

What is perhaps more ground-breaking than the use of a drugalyser is the fact that the new offence removed the need for the prosecution to demonstrate any impairment on the part of the suspect. I frequently speak to people who face prosecution under the new laws. It is commonplace for people to mistakenly believe they would not fall foul of the law if they felt “ok to drive.”

The harsh reality is that the government, despite strong objections from the scientific, medical and legal communities, introduced drug driving limits that are practically zero for illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine. This means that in many cases, even when there has been no drug use for several hours and possibly days in the case of a habitual user, the motorist could still be found to be over the drug drive limit.

You may be thinking, “So what? Rightly so! These “druggies” cause the loss of life and deserve everything they get!”

Well, think about this. Your son, has worked hard to get to University to study law (and taken out student loans that are enough to make most lose sleep at night!) As many students do, he decides to experiment and smokes some weed with his friends every now and then. He wrongly assumes that as he is not remotely impaired by the cannabis he smoked the previous night, he is safe and legal to drive. He, like 26% of young adults believes that cannabis is a low risk to users’ health and is less of a risk than alcohol.

He gets stopped by police for some routine matter and they perform a drugalyser. This shows the presence of cannabis and so he is carted off to the local “cop shop” where a blood sample is taken from him. 4 weeks later the police deliver the bad news. Your son’s blood was found to have 3 µg / L. The limit is set at 2 µg / L.

This young man faces the loss of his licence, he will receive a criminal record which may prevent him from becoming a qualified solicitor and pursuing his intended career.

The penalty for drug driving can be life changing for many motorists. Like drink driving, the drug driving offence carries a minimum penalty of a 12 month disqualification and a fine the equivalent of 1.5 weeks’ of the offender’s net earnings. Other consequences that follow a conviction are:

• Possible prison sentence in high reading or repeat offender cases;
• Criminal record;
• Possible professional consequences such as loss of job/licence to practice;
• Significant insurance increases;
• Restrictions on foreign travel; and
• Reputational damage.

Cannabis, the most commonly detected drug, stays in your blood for up to 14 days. The legal limit is set at 2 µg / L

The drug remains in your system for longer if you are a habitual user so that 24 hours after taking Cannabis you could expect the following levels to be detected in your blood:

• Heavy users- (more than one joint per day) -1,3 – 6.4 µg / L
• Moderate users – (less than one joint per day) – 1,8 µg / L
• Light users – (less than one joint per week) detectable but very close or less than 2 µg

For chronic drug users, drugs can be retained in the system much longer after their last use. For instance, marijuana and PCP stay in your system and can be detected for up to 30+ days after lengthy periods of heavy use.

Unlike the offence of drink driving, the drug driving limits have been set with no regard whatsoever for the fact that a habitual drug user may have traces of the drug in their system but display no signs of being worse for wear.

Also, drink driving offenders have an opportunity to reduce the disqualification they receive by attending a drink driving rehabilitation course. Currently, there is no such course for motorists convicted of drug driving.

It is undoubtedly important to have safeguards against risks posed to road users and pedestrians by motorists who drive when impaired through drink or drugs. However, to me, it does seem unfair that a person could be criminalised and receive such harsh penalties when there is simply no link between drug driving limits and impairment.