Users of medicinal cannabis would be banned from driving while on drug in SA

USERS of medicinal cannabis will not be allowed to drive with the drug in their system, even if it is made legal in South Australia.

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USERS of medicinal cannabis will not be allowed to drive with the drug in their system, even if it is made legal in South Australia, Police Minister Peter Malinauskas has confirmed.

MPs are debating new laws to increase penalties for drink and drug driving in State Parliament.

Answering questions on the legislation, Mr Malinauskas also foreshadowed that almost $100,000 extra would be needed each year to ensure that forensic scientists can keep up with a growing number of driver drug tests.

SA Police conduct random roadside tests that must later be confirmed by a laboratory.

Mr Malinauskas said he expected that Forensic Science SA, which conducts the second tests, would “see an increase in samples for laboratory confirmation” as result of the new laws, and this would require $95,000 more to process each year.

Users of medicinal marijuana would be banned from driving if it is legalised is SA. Picture: Peter Clark

Cannabis oil, used for medicinal purposes, could become legal in SA. Picture: Peter Clark

Figures presented to Parliament show that between 2012 and 2016 there were 4,474 people who tested positive for THC — the active drug in the cannabis plant — while driving on South Australian roads.

Thousands more tested positive to THC in combination with another drug, such as ecstasy or ice.

Mr Malinauskas said that if South Australia’s Parliament passed laws legalising the use of marijuana for medical treatment then users “would need to ensure that the THC is no longer present in their system prior to driving”.

“The screening devices used are able to detect THC for several hours after use,” he said.

“Inactive THC residue in the body of a driver from use in previous days or weeks will not be detected.”

People who are found to have THC in their system are currently given a written direction not to drive for five hours.

“Drugs affect a person’s judgment and may result in dangerous driving behaviour if the drug driver feels impatient, aggressive or has a heightened sense of their own abilities,” Mr Malinauskas said.

The Government’s proposed laws would impose a new three-month licence disqualification for a anyone caught drug-driving for the first time and increased licence disqualification periods for repeat offences.

Any driver detected drug or drink-driving with a child aged under 16 in the car will be made to undergo a drug or alcohol dependency assessment before their licence would be reissued.

Child protection authorities will also be notified.

Opposition police spokesman Stephan Knoll will move to amend the legislation to allow people to complete drug rehabilitation instead of undergoing a dependency test.

“We want to be smart on crime and we want to help people to help themselves ... to seek treatment so they can get clean and stay clean,” he said.

There is only one clinic in SA which carries out drug or alcohol dependency assessments and the waiting period is between four and six weeks.

Mr Malinauskas said the Government would call for more clinics to provide the assessments “within the next year”.

However, he warned that “previous market assessments have found that there were no other clinics able to provide this service in SA”.

“There are few private addiction specialists in South Australia, with most working for the government,” he told Parliament.

Mr Knoll said it was “pretty clear that there will be delays in obtaining drug dependency tests and delays in getting results from Forensic Science SA”.