Vic - Road Side Drug Testing Without 'Drug Bus'

Today I observed road side drug testing in action without the drug bus on site. Has anyone read or seen anything to support this? Im surprised as my understanding has been that the bus was required to perform more accurate tests in the event that a motorist tested positive.

The operation was being conducted on Springvale Rd ~100 meters past Wellington Rd on the Glen Waverley bound side. It consisted of 5 police cars and one purple unmarked car. Officers appeared to be stopping five motorists at a time and scrapping the side of peoples mouth with something like an oversized cotton bud. Could this be drug testing without the bus?

It really didn't look like breath testing to me, can anyone confirm this?

well I don't know about scrapping but they definitely had the stick in the side of the mouth, in between the inner cheek and the jaw.

There is no legal requirement that you be tested at the drug bus.

When you think about it, the police are well within their rights to test people using the saliva test, and if that person comes up positive, they can be driven to the drug bus for the second and third tests upon which the offence of drug driving is recorded.

From the Arrive Alive website:

Step 2: Drivers who return a negative drug test will not be detained further. Drivers who return positive test results will be required to accompany police to a drug bus and provide a second saliva sample.

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Arrive Alive - Testing Procedures

As far as I'm aware, standard issue patrol cars haven't been issued with saliva testing equipment. These are probably officers trained to perform the tests who operate within a certain vicinity of the actual drug bus.

The day that any police car, marked or unmarked is able to do a comprhensive drug test on site will be a shit day for Australia.

Immortal Teknique said:

The day that any police car, marked or unmarked is able to do a comprhensive drug test on site will be a shit day for Australia.

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fucken oath mate

^^ Thats not saying that i support people driving while fucked up, but it seems that as everyday passes we are losing more privacy and freedom as a result of some stupid war on drugs that will never be won.

What about cannabis? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't THC detectable in the body's system for well over 3-4 weeks after use of the drug? So, what does this mean then? If someone had a puff on a joint about a month ago and got pulled over and tested at one of these sites, they will test positive for Marijuana use and possibly lose their license for something they did for a month ago? If so, that is ludicrous!

^ see the Drug Driving Victoria thread for discussion on this subject.

BT

From a recent news article in the big Drug Driving Victoria Thread it sounds like what I noticed is within the realm of possibility.

I hope people take this seriously, drug driving over the Christmas period will not go unnoticed.... be careful people.