Drugs and driving – are our laws tough enough?
Announcement posted by NRMA Motoring & Services 17 Sep 2010
This week, British pop star George Michael was sentenced to eight weeks in jail after he admitted to driving under the influence of cannabis when he crashed his car into a shop in North London. He also received a five-year driving ban and a fine of $2000.
Currently in NSW the penalty for driving with the presence of active
THC (Cannabis) in oral fluid, blood or urine is the following:
| Penalties | First Offence | Second or subsequent offence |
| Maximum court- imposed fine | $1,100 | $2,200 |
| Disqualification – minimum | 3 months | 6 months |
| -maximum | 6 months | Unlimited |
| -automatic* | 6 months | 12 months |
Source: RTA – penalties accessed 15/09/2010
The NSW Police Force now has five roadside drug testing vehicles and has just recently spent $150,000 on a new Random Breath Testing truck for use across the Southern Region of NSW.
Should more be done to curb driving under the influence of drugs or does the NSW government have the balance right?