Police push for tougher law on drugged drivers

By JAMES GARDINER

Police are pushing for tougher laws to make it easier to prosecute people driving under the influence of drugs.

They also want legal drugs covered along with banned substances.

With a trial of voluntary driver drug testing starting this week in association with drink-driving checkpoints, police claim it is too tough to get a conviction for drugs other than alcohol.

The 1998 Land Transport Act makes it an offence to drive "or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on a road while under the influence of drink or a drug or both, to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of the vehicle".

A report released by the police said the words "incapable of proper control" set a high threshold and meant only those who were extremely impaired were likely to be convicted.

Though breath and blood testing can measure the level of alcohol present, similar tests cannot reliably measure the level of drug impairment. The ESR charges $200 to test a blood sample for one substance but screening for more than one costs $2850.

In December the Government agreed in principle to introduce a new offence of being impaired by illicit drugs while in control of a motor vehicle.

But the report, which the police commissioned from British company Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), said the Government had overlooked a significant point. "It is not the legal status of the substance that is the road safety issue, but the level of impairment that it causes."

Compounds found in illicit drugs were also found in some legal drugs, which would create difficulty establishing a schedule of banned substances, TRL said. "Experience from the world of drug testing in sport, as well as the enforcement arena, has shown that those producing drugs will, whenever possible, attempt to find ways around any schedule by introducing new variants."

TRL, whose staff will train police officers in drug recognition testing, said the Government would be better to include all drugs in the law rather than trying to amend it in the future to cover legal drugs.

It said under new drug-driving laws in Britain and Victoria the offence related to the level of impairment but offenders were treated differently. Those impaired by illicit drugs were prosecuted while those impaired by legal drugs could be treated more leniently, such as with a temporary suspension of the right to drive.

Victoria police are to test saliva-based roadside drug tests from July 1 for a year and New Zealand police are keen to monitor the results.

Transport Minister Pete Hodgson was not ready to answer questions about the issues until police and transport officials reported back to him this month.

The drug testing programme the police will run with drink-driving checkpoints is voluntary. People will be asked to perform "divided attention" tasks such as walking a straight line, turning and walking back. If they fail, a doctor will assess the level of impairment and the police plan to use that opinion plus that of the police officer as the basis for prosecution.

British testing

* In Britain only 3 to 4 per cent of drivers asked to undergo the tests refused

* Of those who agreed to be tested, 38 per cent failed.