Drug driving charges and infringements in NSW have increased eightfold over the past decade, prompting calls for laws to be overhauled.
New data shows the number of people charged in NSW with drug driving offences has risen eightfold over the past decade.
Executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said police had significantly increased the number of roadside drug tests they conducted each year, from 20,000 to 156,000."That's led to a real explosion in the number of instances, so much so that these offences now account for a sizeable proportion of the local court workload," she said.Ms Fitzgerald said the rise could also be attributed to police becoming better at targeting likely or repeat offenders.
Figures supplied by Transport for NSW show there were 1,404 crashes between 2019 and 2024 where drug use was a factor, resulting in 372 deaths and 1,816 people injured.The law in NSW allows a motorist to be charged if any trace of illegal drug is detected in their system, even if they do not seem to be impaired at the time.
Lismore solicitor Steve Bolt said the government had also been reluctant to accept increasing conflict between drug driving laws and legitimate use of medicinal cannabis.
Medicinal Cannabis Mobile Drug Testing Roadside Drug Testing Police Policing Road Safety Bocsar Bureau Of Crime Statistics And Research Jackie Fitzgerald Tracey Randall Steve Bolt Lawyer Courts Licence Suspension Licence Disqualification
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