Roadside cocaine testing kits target the east

Waverley Police Command have rolled out their Roadside Drug Testing Kits and can test drivers for cocaine, cannabis and meth.

Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command Traffic Supervisor Sergeant Luke Barrett in Double Bay with the new Roadside Drug Testing kit that now tests for cocaine. Picture: John Appleyard

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Police have begun stopping drivers roadside to test them for cocaine rolling out new oral detection kits streets statewide, with a focus on the eastern suburbs.

With Woollahra and Waverley among the top council areas for cocaine use in NSW, Sgt Luke Barrett of Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command Traffic Service said “your chances of being stopped and submitted to a roadside drug test while in the eastern suburbs have increased.”

Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command Traffic Supervisor Sergeant Luke Barret. Picture: John Appleyard

It has been possible to test for cannabis and methamphetamine for years, but a three-pronged oral swab can now determine if drivers have taken cocaine as well.

Sgt Luke said: “We do not have an overwhelming number of positive tests for cannabis and meth in the area but we do anticipate that we will have a reasonable number of detections for cocaine.”

In the eastern suburbs, cocaine possession, use or both has increased by almost 40 per cent annually over five years, and by about 30 per cent in the Greater Sydney region.

Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command Traffic Supervisor Sergeant Luke Barrett pulls over a driver for a Mobile Drug test in Double Bay. Picture: John Appleyard

The Roadside Drug Testing (RDT) kits — which police began using chiefly in Double Bay and Bondi the lead up to before Christmas last year — can now test for cannabis, meth and cocaine at the same time.

Sgt Barrett said: “We have had quite a few positive detections already.”

The swab reads positive or negative, and drivers face the prosect of being charged for drug use irrespective of the amount of cocaine in their system.

Before the RDT kits, police relied solely on driving under the influence laws which required them to prove that a person’s driving was impaired.

Now, an arrest can take place based on the presence of cocaine in a driver’s system alone — even if a persons driving does not appear impaired.

“Once someone does go positive, they are facing a court appearance,” said Sgt Barrett.

There is a zero tolerance approach to drug use, with police pushing the message, “Just don’t”.

The new Drugwipe tester, Roadside Drug Testing kit that tests for cocaine. Picture: John Appleyard

Previously, testing for cocaine was much more intensive. To prove that a driver was impaired, a number of roadside steps were taken that resulted in a person being taken to hospital for blood and urine samples.

Sgt Barrett said that this test “works on the same principal as random breath testing. Any driver can be stopped at any time for random breath testing.”

Sgt Barrett said that the need to include cocaine in a simple roadside test is because there is a representation that drivers under the influence of the drug are involved in injuries and crashes.