Plans were launched earlier this week by the Government to make it easier to prosecute people who drive under the influence of illegal drugs in England and Wales.
Saying that it is proposing a “zero-tolerance” approach to drug drivers, the Government is hoping to introduce a new offence of driving with a drug in the body, above a certain limit.
The plans, which are out for consultation, propose that eight drugs, namely cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, benzoylecgonine, methamphetamine, LSD and 6-monoacetylmorphine (heroin and diamorphine) would come under the “tough approach”, for which allowable limits would be set very low.
The Government is also proposing higher limits for eight other controlled drugs, which have medical uses. These are clonazepam, diazepam, flunitrazepam, lorazepam, methadone, morphine, oxazepam and temazepam.
The Review of Drink and Drug Driving Law conducted by Sir Peter North in June 2010 concluded that there was a “significant drug driving problem” in the UK, with an estimated 200 drug driving-related deaths a year.
While a report published by a panel of medical and scientific experts in March this year, which built on the previous review, suggested limits for the named drugs.
According to the review, in 2011 around 41 per cent of the prosecutions in magistrates’ courts for driving whilst impaired through drugs were withdrawn or dismissed, while the figure in drink driving cases is only 3 per cent.
Under the new proposals, however, the police would be able to carry out up to three preliminary saliva tests on a person suspected of driving with drugs in the body, and, if positive, require a blood sample to be taken.
Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said that drug driving is a menace that devastates families and ruins lives and added that the proposals will make it easier for the police to take action against those who drive after taking illegal drugs while clarifying the position for those who use prescribed drugs.