Drug Driving Advice On Australian Roads

Hazy Drug Driving Advice On Australian Roads

                                  HuffPost Australia  |  By Eoin Blackwel

Very interesting article by Eoin Blackwell as follows:

If you’re a little dazed and confused about Random Drug Testing on Australia's roadsides, it’s probably not just because of what you’re smoking.
RDTs are being rolled out across the country at an increasing rate, with as many as 200,000 drivers to be tested in Victoria and 100,000 in NSW by 2017.
Prompted by a recent NSW court case, where a Lismore man was acquitted after being pinged nine days after having cannabis, The Huffington Post Australia decided to investigate the state of play in each state.

Cannabis is, after all, the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug, and accounts for almost half of all drug seizures worldwide, while 34.8 percent of Australians aged 14 years and over have used it one or more times in their life, 10.2 percent using it in the 12 months to 2014.
But state governments in Australia, perhaps reflecting their territories' approach to illegal drugs in general, give different advice to drivers about just how long the psychoactive component of marijuana, THC, can be detected by a roadside test - ranging from zero tolerance, general guidelines over how long it takes to become undetectable, to no advice at all.

Please read the article full here

MediNat comments:

1. Our understanding is that Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol  (THC)  metabolises to Hydroxy-Δ⁹-THC (also detectable in Saliva) then to Carboxy THC which is detectable in urine.
2. All manufacturers indicate detection times for THC in saliva, however they are taken with some caution by those of us who distribute the products, because the manufacturers detection times are usually determined in laboratory conditions with perfectly spiked samples of saliva being tested (hardly real life)
3. All devices have a lower detection limit from which the device cut off is determined, i.e. a cut off of 25ng/ml is determined when more than 50% of devices detect THC at that level, often this can mean for 98%-99% accuracy means the tests will read positive at 25ng/ml + up to 50% above that cutoff. Note: some are less, some are more than that.
4. There is insufficient research done to determine 'impairment' from THC or any other illicit substance, this research is critical for workplace drug testing as well as roadside testing.
5. In terms of detection limits it seems Tasmania may have the right language!
6. In our estimation, the average saliva drug test gives a detection window of 4hrs-6hrs after that it becomes a grey area, some devices detecting THC at 12 hrs (10ng/ml cutoff) some up to 18-24 hrs (electronic with 5ng/ml cutoffs) All of this depends on the quality and quantity of substance consumed, plus a myriad of personal factors.
7. Our advice, don't drug and drive......

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