Speaking out! - Time to get tough on drugs as well

The
Catholic Weekly
Online

Sydney
30 May 2004

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Speaking out! - Time to get tough on drugs as well

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Speaking out! - Time to get tough on drugs as well

with MATT SCHILLER

MONDAY, May 3, saw the introduction of a zero blood alcohol limit for all learner and provisional licence holders in NSW. The move from the limit of 0.02 to zero arose out of the Alcohol Abuse Summit of 2003. Premier Bob Carr and Minister for Roads, Carl Scully, are fully behind the new measures.

The NSW Government’s primary justification for the zero blood alcohol limit was that it removed the “element of confusion” in the minds of novice drivers over exactly how much alcohol they could drink.

As further justification for the new limit, Mr Scully recently noted that Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory had already adopted similar schemes. When approached, a spokesperson for the minister explained that this was a definite influence on NSW’s decision. Road statistics in the aforementioned States and Territories demonstrated that the lower limit was having a positive influence.

There is only one valid legal defence for driving with a blood alcohol concentration between zero and 0.02 that novice drivers have been informed of by the RTA. This is if the alcohol was consumed during a religious ceremony, such as drinking wine at Christian services. Even in this case, one must still go through the huge inconvenience of legal proceedings, and it is still possible that you could be landed with up to six months disqualification from driving and a fine of up to $1100 for the first offence.

Although the probable future benefits of the new alcohol limit will outweigh the inconveniences it causes, perhaps the government is focusing on the wrong area to begin with. It would seem almost pointless to make such minor changes to alcohol limits when only greatly inferior measures exist for testing drivers for other drugs, especially cannabis and amphetamines. Mr Scully’s spokesperson conceded that testing methods for such illegal drugs are inadequate.

On-field saliva swab tests for illegal drugs are being trialled in Victoria at the moment, and NSW is waiting to examine the results. However, if the Government is serious about tackling this problem, it should be taking the initiative itself.