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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

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

Always, always always, by all means question the facts whenever they don't add up with your knowledge...

Like I said in my post, I wasn't sure of the info, and I haven't got much details. Unfortunately I've been heinously busy over the weekend and this week, and will continue to be so over the next two days at the least. As soon as I get the chance to upgrade to 2nd hand info, you will be the first to know I promise.

I know several friends of this person who have given me the same story - and I have been given no reason to believe this man has not been fined and disqualified from driving specifically for having had ecstasy beforehand. However, if it turns out he was fined and disqualified under evidence provided by means other than a saliva test, I will humbly apologise and remove my recent notes in this thread.

At this juncture I prefer 'better safe than sorry' approach, so wanted to put the warning out in case there is a chance people will be drug tested while driving in Melbourne.

BigTrancer :)
 
Ooo...this weekend could be very interesting....

There are quite a few events happening in melbourne...i know that I'll be definatly catching the train or taxi home:)
 
IMHO I think this is something we would of had to accept anyway in the future in relation to any new reforms in drug policy. But sadly with the Bracks government we wont get any advances in relation 2 drug policy or reform. But its a political issue so you wont get any leadership until society changes.

I dont know what effect these drug tests will have, BUT, even if it makes someone wait a couple more hours in the morning to hop in their car then surely it is better than that same person driving still very much under the influence of drugs 3 hours earlier? Off course driving while under drugs is never safe, but I am a realist because we all know drink driving hasnt stoped since the breath tests were introduced and if it stops one person from losing a loved one then so be it I will take the train, no biggie.


I can live with the drug driving tests IF they are done propally and correctly. We all know that is highly unlikely though. Unless there is legislation saying swab tests can only be used of drivers then I suspect that there use will be expanded to other matters involving drugs. And there is no doubt that these will be targeted towards the party scene and truck drivers and I bet you will never see one in Kew or Nth Balwyn.

So many holes that need to be ironed out, but this something I feel people advocating drug reform and end users in general will have to accept if we are to make any real leap forward in the future. One positive out of the sniffer dog & swab test issues is the drug issue is now getting disscussed in public and different views are getting printed which is no doubt a good thing.
 
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Logically I would suggest that you would test positive for amphetamine, unless the device can discriminate amphetamine from dexamphetamine. Assuming it doesn't you would have to take a blood test to ensure you only had dexamphetamine in your system and no methamphetamine etc, as well as provide a prescription for the dexamphetamine. This may be incorrect as they may have a policy to follow in this situation, however that is how I think it would play out.
 
Knowing the huge amount of people on prescription dexamphetamine and like drugs I would hope the swab tests would be able to tell the difference. Otherwise there are going to be alot of people going ape shit over being forced to take a blood test.
 
Hey im new so don't attack me if im wrong but i was listening to the radio this morning and they said that the drug test had been postponed until further notice (most likely later in the year) due to technical problems that needed to be resolved.
 
Seems confirmed; they've been pushed back.

Roadside drug tests delayed
By Kenneth Nguyen
July 1, 2004


Random drug testing of Victorian motorists, which was scheduled to begin today, has been delayed and may not begin until the end of the year, police said yesterday.

It was also revealed that when the testing begins motorists will have to wait about five minutes for their tests to be processed before they are allowed to proceed on their journey.

Inspector Martin Boorman of the police traffic and alcohol section said that despite today being the date when testing was to have begun, police were yet to decide on which testing device they would use.

"It's simply taken us longer than we expected it to," Mr Boorman said. "We've put into place a very comprehensive (technology) testing regime and we're not prepared to compromise that... for the sake of starting things on time."

He would not say when the roadside tests would begin, but said they would be in place "as soon as possible and certainly this year".

Parliament last year passed legislation allowing police to check for the presence of cannabis and methamphetamines in motorists' saliva.

Police will continue to check for other drugs - including heroin, GHB and other barbiturates and opiates - through existing processes, which allow them to take urine or blood samples from drivers who fail impairment assessments.

Asked whether police were concerned by the five-minute delay involved in roadside drug testing, Mr Boorman said: "We're always concerned about inconvenience caused to people, but we're hoping that, as has happened with alcohol, the community recognises this is a serious risk to them and will support us.

"I've got no doubt that, as technology develops, we'll have devices that do it quicker."

Police have said that the focus of the tests would be heavy-vehicle drivers and areas where rave and dance parties were held.

Drugs were detected in more than 30 per cent of Victorian drivers killed in road accidents last year, Mr Boorman said.
Click to expand...

From The Age

I was actually involved in helping test these devices, a saliva swab they took off me a couple weekends ago broke the machine. Oops ;)
 
ok im gonna put forward the paranoid view. Could police not simply be saying there are delays to make people feel it is safe to drive and infact are preparing the biggest blitz ever?

These tests have been well publicised and altho there are some idiots in this scene, i dont think anyone would be stupid enough to drive home from the city on the 1st weekend these tests are being implemented if it was advertised the police will be targetting ppl.

so now the police are saying 'nah, nah these tests will be coming in later in the year'. Im not actually paranoid i just don't trust police or politicians!

cos correct me if i'm wrong but the legislation now allows them to test ppl, so in the end its not gonna count if you say 'but i read in the paper on thursday you said they weren't ready yet'

So i dunno ppl, i think just b very careful. :\
 
^^ I'd say no because they said almost the same thing New Years (when it was originally supposed to come in). I've been commenting on this to friends all year, such as "ha, they always keep pushing it back" . Low and behold, it's been pushed back AGAIN. About the 4th official time I've read this.
 
I am *dreading* the introduction of these tests - I may never be able to drive again! ;)

One good thing - the Age article said that the test takes 5 minutes - I can't see large scale testing happening in the way RBT happens. They will have to be more selective - or maybe it's just a way to get around "reasonable suspicion" to do a search - "Excuse me sir, we are doing random drug testing and we want your spit... (5 minutes later) ... Step out of the vehicle sir - we have reason to believe that you are a drug fiend"

But I guess they can do that anyway - "We suspect you are under the influence of drugs because your vehicle was weaving on the road <of course it wasn't> so now we will search your car" (true story - they got excited when they saw the esky in the boot but all it had in it was mutton chops from my girlfriend-at-the-time's step-father's property)
 
NEWS: 'First drug-driving test trials delayed'

Equipment problems have halted the roll-out of the Victorian police force's drug-driving testing program.

The police plan to use hand-held devices that test saliva for traces of amphetamines and cannabis in the first Australian trial of its type.

Inspector Martin Boorman says problems with the devices have delayed the start of the program for several months, possibly until the end of the year.

"We have a very strict regime in place for testing this equipment, and making sure it complies with all the necessary operational requirements we have," he said.

"That's taking some time and these devices come from overseas so there's a little bit of time involved in getting equipment over and so forth," he said.
Click to expand...

Link
 
"That's taking some time and these devices come from overseas so there's a little bit of time involved in getting equipment over and so forth,"

Call me cynical, but it doesn’t take until the end of the year to ship items from overseas. Is it possible that they are stalling due to other issues regarding the accuracy of roadside drug testing? What Victoria does will set the Australian precedent; they won’t want to make any mistakes.
 
I wonder if it has anything to do with temperature. Some immunogens have strict operation and storage requirements. Pure speculation, but it would be funny if the problem was due to the tests failing i.e not detecting some users.

Or -equally speculative- perhaps a serious group of individuals opposed to the law merely told authorities how to beat the tests...that would tend to send things back to the drawing board :\

CM is right when he outlined the focus on this from other states. The cost of changing or altering a system once in place is considerable, especially if this means innocent motorists have previously been found guilty due to an inaccurate test. Doubt will possibly exist for some time once the green light is given.

But DNA evidence was once treated in a similar manner. Any new technology will come under extreme scrutiny when employed for forensic or police evidence gathering, and so it should. DNA processing has changed and improved, and is now generally accepted as being essentially infallible, especially if any combination of PCR, RFLP or STR amplification techniques are performed.

With a bit of tweaking, immuno or enzymatic characterization has the potential to be just as accurate.
 
giddyup!!

i'm gonna go take me heaps of pills, smoke a lotta weed and do mega lines as long as my arm then go driving this weekend!!!


joking there guys....


hmm.. the cynic in me can't help think that this is simply a decoy.... they havent given any specific timelines, and have only said things like "could be end of year... possibly a couple of months...."

wots not to say they have said this so they can surprise everyone and come out with a major blitz in the first weekend to REALLY make the headlines.....
 
how do these guys test the machines? does someone a "tester" take a different combination of drugs and then use the machine to get proper results? how are you certain you are in a high range? the guy testing the machine takes drugs more than usual to get there?

or does it just go by blood/volume levels?
 
I have heard so many contraindicating stories about the drug testing as of late, Im unsure what to think.
To be on the safe side, Im just not taking the risk.

I agree with CM on the point that it does not take 4-5 months to ship goods from overseas,even if they are shipped sea freight, I wouldn't think that it would take that long. Does anyone know where these would be being shipped from, out of curiosity?.

Therefor it maybe a legality issue?
I know there has been alot of public backlash on this issue.
 
I realy think the "shiping" is not the issue here, its probably more along the lines of what p_d mentioned. When you have a large government contract and are ordering from over seas you make sure the contract is iron clad and the equipment is gaurenteed to work as expected (espesialy with such a large legal backlash as drug testing could have). My guess is its something to do with this.
 
*bump* and *threads merged* and I have edited my previous post regarding a person who was penalised and disqualified for driving under the influence of MDMA because I cannot get more information at this time regarding the method of detecting drug influence. Sorry for the confusion.

BigTrancer :)
 
Even if the tests have been delayed, although I can't help but think muzby might be onto something, you shouldn't be driving under the influence anyway. Driving impaired your not only endangering yourself.

But until we know the accuracy, fines and detection periods of these devices its hard to comment.
 
Shouldn't the leglislation define the penality units (ie: price of the fine), and also detail the number of demerit points or loss of licence or whatever?

The bill was designed to ammend the Road Safety Act, and now it's passed I assume that this act will have new wording inserted. I don't have time to search around for it right now cos I have to get up for work soon so I should really go to bed. But that might be a good place to check if anyone has the time and willpower...
 
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