State and territory premiers are again being urged to stop treating medicinal cannabis patients as potential criminals when they get behind the wheel of a car.
In a fresh attempt to reform Australia’s drug-driving rules, the Penington Institute has written to six state leaders in a call to “address the inequality” faced by those taking THC medicine.
In a now familiar argument raised by reform campaigners – but which so far has largely fallen on deaf ears – Penington chief executive John Ryan insisted medicinal cannabis patients should not be forced to choose between their health and potentially breaking the law.
Highlighting the discrimination faced by medicinal cannabis patients, Ryan wrote: “Drivers who test positive for other prescription medicines, including opioids, benzodiazepines and sleeping pills, are not penalised if they are not impaired.
“However, medicinal cannabis patients are provided no leeway for the presence of THC, even if they are using their medication as prescribed and driving responsibly.
“I urge you to address this inequity between medicinal cannabis patients and those who are prescribed other medications. Medical cannabis patients should not be forced to choose between their medicine and their mobility.”
Ryan emphasised that anyone who is impaired by any substance, including medicinal cannabis, should face the consequences. But arresting and prosecuting a patient simply for testing positive for the presence of THC, and who displayed no impairment, was unfair.
“In some cases, THC may linger in a person’s system for several days after using medicinal cannabis, meaning drivers are not impaired but may still test positive at a roadside test,” he said.
In the letter – sent to premiers in WA, Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory, ACT and South Australia – Ryan pointed out that Tasmania provides medicinal cannabis patients with a formal legal defence against a charge of drug-impaired driving.
He also raised the recent law changes in Victoria which has given magistrates discretion to impose a fine or a licence suspension on drivers who tested positive for THC in cases where the driver had used medicinal cannabis in line with their doctor’s advice and was not impaired.
“[Other states] should consider these examples and amend [their] driving laws to rectify the issue accordingly,” he said.