Monday 7 May 2018

Mobile drug testing operations will now test for the presence of cocaine – they already test for cannabis, speed, ice and MDMA – and the government will double the number of operations in the state.

Driving under the influence of drugs is a serious safety issue and I support this being a criminal offence, however I do not support the separate ‘presence offence’ for having any detectable level of a prescribed drug in the system even if it has no impact on their ability to drive.

Drug use in the community is high and many people will suffer convictions and loss of licence as a result of changes. I told Parliament that this is another step in the failed ‘war on drugs’, of which the biggest success has been to support the growth in organised crime. My speech is HERE.