Drug Driving

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:40): Supplementary question: is the minister aware that, in the case of cold-pressed medical cannabis oil the THC is not heated and therefore it does not become psychoactive, even though it will be present in a roadside test? Secondly, is the minister aware that on Monday 2 March new drug driving legislation came into force in the UK that does differentiate between THC levels, indicating that it is possible to do a test for levels in bodily fluids?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:40): I thank the honourable member for her question. No, I am not familiar with the UK legislation, but when the government was putting together the legislation as it came into this parliament there was a substantial effort to research the legislation that exists in other jurisdictions around the country and globally.

With regard to the earlier part of the Hon. Ms Vincent's question regarding whether I am aware of the heat element of cannabis and going into the system, the advice I have received repeatedly—and I have sought to ask a number of different authorities questions along the lines of the effects of medical cannabis and cannabis generally on drivers—is that, where there is a presence of THC in the system, the only way to conclude the impacts of that presence is to interpret it as having an impairment on the driver.

Enormous amounts of research have been done in this area globally. They have been considered in the development of the government's legislation, and all the evidence that I have seen and received, and advice that I have sought and received, says that, due to the inability to be able to test for the level of THC within the system, the safest course of action for motorists and the community generally is to determine that any presence of THC can result in impairment and therefore should not be tolerated.