With a new Labor minority government and seven Greens MPs now in the NSW Parliament we have a real opportunity to finally reform this state’s unfair roadside drug testing laws. Fixing this is simple and long overdue.
Medicinal cannabis use is booming but our drug-driving laws haven’t caught up. Most medicinal cannabis contains THC which can stay in your system for hours, sometimes days, after use and long after any effects have worn off. NSW roadside drug tests pick up minuscule traces of THC and medicinal cannabis patients are being charged and losing their licence, despite not being impaired when they drive.
This means many people are having to make the choice between driving to work or dropping the kids to school, with taking the one medicine that actually alleviates often very painful conditions.
This is not only unfair, it’s discrimination.
The UK, New Zealand, Norway, Germany, and Ireland all provide a medicinal defence for testing positive to THC to protect medicinal cannabis patients if they were not impaired and were using the drug as directed. It’s time for NSW to do the same.