Victoria’s two Legalise Cannabis MPs today launched the latest bid to stop medicinal cannabis patients from being prosecuted under the state’s drug-driving laws.
David Ettershank and Rachel Payne called on politicians from all sides to finally back reforms to bring cannabis in line with other prescription medicines.
Under the Road Safety Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2023, new laws would protect patients who have been prescribed THC – and taken it in line with their GP’s instructions – from being prosecuted.
The reforms do not cover patients whose driving is impaired.
The presentation of the bill, which includes details of the proposed reforms, is expected to be followed by a debate in the Legislative Council on March 8.
Ettershank, the newly-elected MP for Western Metropolitan, said: “People who have been prescribed a medicine and can drive safely should be allowed to [so]. This is how we treat every single prescription in Victoria, except medicinal cannabis, and it’s time for that to be corrected.
“Testing for sheer presence of THC rather than impairment is not right. This failure is based on stigma rather than evidence and the law for cannabis needs to be brought in line with all other prescription medicines.”
Payne, the newly elected MP for South-Eastern Metropolitan, said the current laws unfairly restrict patients whose job requires them to drive.
The law should “stop interfering in people’s lives” in such a way that prevents them from taking the medication they need, she added.
“Driving laws should be focused on impairment not presence,” Payne said. “The research is done and advice for doctors and enforcement officers is available. We are calling for the government to work with us to update this outdated law.”
One prescribing physician who is backing the bill, Dr Karen Hitchcock, told how patients are staying on “dangerous and addictive medicines” amid fears of being prosecuted for trace levels of THC.
Others find the relief and increase in quality of life they get from medicinal cannabis is worth the risk of losing their licence, especially once they are “sleeping soundly”, she said.
“Sleep deprivation, we know, grossly impairs driving ability,” Dr Hitchcock added. “It is time the laws were changed to reflect the reality that cannabis is a medicine. It is time we stopped mistaking innocent citizens for criminals.”
The fight to reform Victoria’s drug-driving laws was initially taken up by Reason Party leader and MP Fiona Patten, a fierce advocate for medicinal cannabis.
Ettershank and Payne’s bill is largely similar to Patten’s, with the former MP – who lost her seat in November’s state elections – understood to be working behind the scenes with the Legalise Cannabis Victoria party to get the bill across the line.
In 2020, hopes soared after the state government established an “implementation group” to examine the proposals, only for the police to dig their heels in and quash any chance of reform.
