State premiers are being urged to fix outdated road laws that effectively ban medicinal cannabis patients from driving even if they haven’t used cannabis for days. Thousands of medicinal cannabis patients across six states and territories could be allowed back behind the wheel if the proposal by the nonprofit Penington Institute is adopted.
Under current laws, it is illegal for a person to drive with medicinal cannabis in their system in all states and territories except Tasmania, even if they are driving responsibly and are not impaired. However, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main ingredient in cannabis, can linger in a person’s system for weeks and can be detected long after any potential impairment has occurred.
Penington Institute CEO John Ryan has written to premiers and chief ministers in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and South Australia to urge them to amend their road laws to fix the issue. Victoria recently changed its road laws thanks to efforts by the Legalise Cannabis Party Victoria, to give magistrates discretion to decide whether to impose a fine or a licence suspension on drivers who tested positive for THC, where the driver had used medicinal cannabis in line with doctor’s advice and was not impaired. But it is still an offence.
In the letter, Penington Institute CEO John Ryan says:
“Nobody should drive while they are impaired by any substance... But patients who are not impaired and are using medicinal cannabis as directed by their doctor pose little if any safety risk and should be treated accordingly.
I urge you to address this inequity between medicinal cannabis patients and those who are prescribed other medications. Medical cannabis patients should not be forced to choose between their medicine and their mobility”.
The Victorian Government has also initiated a medical cannabis road safety trial, the results of which aren’t expected to be available until the middle of next year.
Meanwhile in Queensland, it seems any promised governmental review of RDT has disappeared (blown away by Cyclone Alfred perhaps), with no mention of the study that was released in December 2024. Maybe this is due to the results showing quite clearly that after partaking of vaporised medicinal cannabis, overall hazard perception ability and driving-related risk-taking behaviour remains unchanged?