By Brian Houlihan

Roadside testing for drugs is soon to commence

Recently legislation which allows for Mandatory Intoxication Testing (MIT) checkpoints which test drivers for both alcohol and drugs was passed. The ‘Road Traffic Bill’ addressees drug driving, the recognition of disqualifications between Ireland and the UK, uninsured drivers, allows lower speed limits in built up areas and other measures.

Recently the Transport Minister Shane Ross said: “The new powers given to the gardaí to test for drugs at the roadside will allow them to test for a wide range of drugs which could not be previously tested for. These represent 95% of all drugs found by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety in samples sent to it for confirmatory testing in 2015.”

He added that “Drivers abusing drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, benzodiazepines and opiate and driving while impaired will face a minimum disqualification of four years for their first offence and six years for their second and subsequent offence.”

A new offence changes how drivers carrying drugs are treated. You can be found guilty of driving, or being in charge, of a vehicle with the presence of illicit drugs such as cannabis, cocaine and heroin. This means that individuals can be found to have committed an offence, without the Garda having to prove impairment, which is the case currently.

Shane Ross — The current Transport Minister

Interestingly, the bill has provisions for those currently, or that will be, prescribed Sativex or other medical cannabis products, if/when they come on the market. The bill states that the law isn’t applicable if the following applies:

“Where the person is the holder of a certificate, in the prescribed form (referred to in this Part as a “medical exemption certificate”) which indicates that at the time at which that drug was found to be present in his or her blood ∆ 9 - Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had been lawfully prescribed for him or her and which is signed by the doctor who prescribed it.”

It is worth noting that this provision, or a form of it, has been enivsaged for the bill for a few years. Originally it was perceived Sativex would be the only applicable product, however the potential changes in medical cannabis laws next year should alter this.

Speaking in the Seanad in January of this year, the previous Transport Minister Paschal Donohoe stated that:

“I am allowing in the Bill for the fact that a form of medicinal cannabis is licensed for use in Ireland, although I understand it is not yet available. This is a medication called Sativex. It is likely to be prescribed only rarely, to treat a small proportion of multiple sclerosis patients. People who have been prescribed this drug will receive an exemption certificate from the new offence. However, this exemption would not apply if they were actually impaired due to the medication, in which case they would be liable to prosecution under the existing 2010 provisions”

Some concerns have been expressed over the fact that ‘Legal Highs / New Psychoactive Substances’ cannot be tested for under the current plans. Given the prevalence of these substances this is deemed a serious oversight by some.

While aspects of the bill, notably that individuals could offend by simply possessing drugs in their vehicle regardless of impairment, have been met with scorn, there are positive elements contained in the bill. The fact that medical cannabis users are exempt, as long as they’re not impaired, is to be welcomed.

This is also an example of where politicians and civil servants are taking into account medical cannabis for inclusion in other areas of legislation and policy. This itself perhaps shows a change of mindset.

Brian Houlihan is a Director of Help Not Harm which seeks to shift the emphasis of Irish drug policy from criminal justice to public health.