Pubdate: Thu, 22 Mar 2007
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2007 New Zealand Herald
Contact:  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/300
Author: Greg Ansley

AUSTRALIA INTRODUCES ROAD DRUG TESTING LAWS

CANBERRA -- It doesn't pay to take the high road in Australia any more.

The conviction yesterday of a 26-year-old Sydney man for driving  
under the influence of cannabis - the first under new roadside drug  
testing laws in New South Wales - has signalled that having a puff or  
popping a pill before getting behind the wheel is in the same sin bin  
as drink-driving in the lucky country.

New South Wales has followed Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia  
in introducing saliva tests to detect the presence of cannabis,  
ecstasy and methamphetamines with such street names as speed, ice and  
crystal meth.

Queensland, when it has refined the technology and put its laws into  
place, will add cocaine and heroin to the testing list.

And Western Australia intends putting drug test buses on the road  
when its roadside testing laws come into force in July.

Despite early concerns over accuracy and civil rights, saliva tests  
on the side of the nation's roads are now a fact of life across the  
continent.

The first state to move was Victoria, with world-beating legislation  
that came into effect in December 2004.

It was pushed by studies that found that 31 per cent of drivers  
killed on the state's roads the previous year tested positive to  
drugs other than alcohol.

Researchers found that drivers who had recently smoked cannabis or  
taken methamphetamines were at the same risk of crashing as those  
with a blood alcohol content of 0.5.

Similar grim findings elsewhere prompted other states to follow suit.

In Tasmania, illicit drugs were found in the blood of almost a  
quarter of the drivers killed in motor accidents on the island  
between 1999 and 2003.

Early Tasmanian tests found that one in 10 drivers providing a saliva  
sample had returned positive results.

In South Australia, where roadside testing came into force last July,  
23 per cent of drivers killed between 2003 and 2005 had cannabis,  
speed or ecstasy - or a combination - in their blood.

Further research estimated that 17 per cent of West Australian  
drivers aged 20 to 29 had been behind the wheel while under the  
influence of drugs.

Key targets are young men and truck drivers who use amphetamines to  
stay awake.

Studies have shown that cannabis lowers alertness, concentration, co- 
ordination, reaction time and the ability to judge distances and  
react to road signs and sounds.

Its active ingredient, THC, can be detected by saliva testing up to  
five hours after consumption.

Authorities have also attacked the myth that amphetamines keep sleepy  
eyes open.

"In reality, they greatly increase the severity of sleep rebound  
crashes," the South Australian Government warns.

"Microsleeps and crashes caused by fatigue impairment are often the  
result of drivers using stimulants."

The third roadside testing target, ecstasy, distorts perception,  
thinking and memory, impairs tracking ability, slows reactions and  
causes disorientation of time and place.

Saliva testing can detect both methamphetamines and ecstasy up to 24  
hours after use.

Laws in all states allow trained police to randomly test for drugs at  
any time.

The results of an initial saliva test using an absorbent swab take  
about five minutes.

If it is positive the driver must provide a second sample for further  
analysis, with the result known within 30 minutes.

This must be confirmed later by laboratory tests.
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MAP posted-by: Jackl