Headline news across the ABC, a scenario many cannabis users are very familiar with.
Roadside instant drug testing is under scrutiny after a South Australian driver falsely tested positive to having methamphetamine in his system, resulting in a loss of licence. When Victoria introduced roadside drug testing in December 2004, the step was hailed as a “world first” and other states soon followed suit. Swinburne University psychopharmacologist and research fellow Thomas Arkell said states differed in the details of their random drug testing regimes, it was common practice to do more than one spot test. The case involving the South Australian driver is not the first time the reliability of the tests has been called into question. A 2019 study published in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis found that both the Securetec DrugWipe and the Draeger DrugTest 5000 sometimes delivered incorrect results.What happens if you test positive?
The rules vary for each state and territory. Drivers in New South Wales who test positive to an initial mobile drug test will be directed to provide a saliva sample, which if it returns positive, will result in a 24-hour loss of licence. In Victoria and Queensland, drivers who return a positive result to an initial test will be required to take a second test which, if positive, will be sent to a laboratory for further analysis. Western Australia’s Road Safety Commission said drivers found with cannabis, ecstasy or methamphetamine in their oral fluid sample can be charged with drug driving. ACT Policing said drivers can only be charged with a drug driving offence if they test positive on a saliva test analysed in a laboratory. However, in South Australia officers can issue an immediate loss of licence to a driver “if they commit a drug driving offence” by testing positive to a roadside drug test following laws introduced into that state in February last year, according to police.