NEWS: The Age 15 Sep 03: Random driver drug tests are on the way (Latest guess Dec 1)

Random driver drug tests on the way
By Lucy Beaumont
September 15, 2003

Truck drivers and rave partygoers will be prime targets of random roadside drug testing soon to be introduced in Victoria.

The technology, which relies on a saliva test detecting cannabis and methamphetamines, could make Victoria the world's first jurisdiction with random roadside testing similar to booze buses, authorities said.

The announcement came as revised guidelines on assessing a patient's fitness to drive were mailed to GPs nationwide.

Revealing the technology yesterday, Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said it used a device containing an antibody that reacted to drug traces in saliva.

Within one to three minutes of a driver chewing on a swab, a digital display would tell police whether the driver had taken drugs recently. Laboratory confirmation would follow a positive reading.

Up to 30 per cent of drivers killed on the road had tested positive to drugs other than alcohol, Mr Haermeyer said.

More than 200 drivers were picked up last year with existing drug tests.

Authorities could not confirm whether there would be a discretionary level of drugs permissible, as with the .05 blood alcohol level. (Emphasis added: BT)

Mr Haermeyer said that legislation would be introduced to Parliament this year, with roadside testing in place early next year.

"This is a breakthrough initiative very much in the same vein as roadside random alcohol testing when we first did that," Mr Haermeyer said. "Initially, we will snare a significant number of people but as the message gets out there people will take a lot more care."

Acting Assistant Commissioner Bob Hastings said that police would target areas and industries where they believed drug abuse was high.

"The heavy transport industry is one of the industries that regularly comes under criticism . . . We also have large rave-type dances around the city where these sorts of substances are taken," he said.

The new device could detect opiates such as heroin, but authorities said more work was needed to distinguish it from medicines, including codeine, which have a similar chemical make-up.

"These drugs are still quite impairing, whether they are under prescription or not," Mr Haermeyer said. "We have a major education campaign to undertake."

The new National Road Transport Commission advice to GPs brings commercial and private driver guidelines together for the first time and helps doctors identify patients who might be unsafe on the roads.

The commission said that impaired driver perception, judgement, response time and physical capability needed to be managed using up-to-date medical knowledge.

Blackouts, vision problems, epilepsy, heart disease, sleep disorders, diabetes, psychiatric illness and old age all impair driving ability.

Commission project manager Bruce Hocking said that doctors should not be seen as policing road safety.

"There is no intent to get doctors to dob in patients," Dr Hocking said.

In Victoria, drivers are obliged to notify licensing authorities if they develop a condition that affects their driving.

He said some conditions had been reviewed in light of medical advances.

"The standards have been framed to take advantage of increasingly effective medication," Dr Hocking said.

The guidelines are available online at www.austroads.com.au

From: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/14/1063478065344.html?from=storyrhs

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Drug-driving tests
By MARK BUTTLER
15 Sep 2003

TRUCKIES and doped drivers leaving rave nights will be the first people singled out when Victoria introduces world-first random roadside drug testing.

Police consider those groups to be among the most likely to be caught out when the system – similar to drink-drive testing – starts next year.
Some truck drivers regularly use amphetamines, or "speed", to stay awake on gruelling interstate road trips.

And police are aware many nightclubbers drive home with drugs such as ecstasy in their system, knowing there is a minimal chance of being caught.

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said Victoria would be the first in the world to have random testing for drug-drivers.

He said it was clear there was a problem. Victorian research showed that 30 per cent of drivers killed in road accidents tested positive to drugs other than alcohol.

Mr Haermeyer said the speed of the new tests meant many more drivers could be checked.

"(The new testing) will heavily stack the odds against those people who drive under the influence of drugs," Mr Haermeyer said.

The device police plan to use can check for as many as 15 drugs. But it is understood police plan to concentrate on amphetamine-based products and cannabis.

Methadone and benzodiazepine use can be revealed but it has not been decided what other drugs will be deemed to impair drivers.

Police said yesterday further refinement of the technology would be needed before conclusive testing could be done for heroin, because that drug shared constituents similar to many prescription drugs.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Bob Hastings said police would have an element of discretion in dealing with drivers who tested positive for prescription drugs but were not impaired.

"It's not about terrorising the normal person . . . who needs their medication," Mr Hastings said.

Drivers will be examined at the roadside using a device which, when chewed for up to three minutes, produces enough saliva to reveal whether people have drugs in their systems.

If a test is positive, the driver will be escorted to a nearby drug-bus where a more detailed sample will be taken.

The driver will not be allowed to drive home.

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phase_dancer said:

Just heard on JJJ that WA has rejected roadside drug tests, saying that state won't be employing them. The spokesperson said police should be focusing more on driver impairment [?] and that the devices could not detect all drugs.

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