By Jeremy Sirrell, 23rd January 2026
Figures released recently by the Ministry of Justice reveal a significant rise in the rate of reoffending for drug driving offences. In fact, almost 50 per cent of those who commit offences of drug driving have previously committed a similar offence. The data also revealed that over the past four years, drug drive reoffending rates have increased by more than 134 per cent. Whilst these figures will likely be greeted by the predictable chorus of shock horror in some quarters, it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect just why there might be such high rates of reoffending amongst drug driving offenders.
One of the reasons suggested is the delays of up to six months in processing blood tests, which means people who have been arrested for a drug driving offence on one occasion may be free to commit a second offence before they have been prosecuted for the first. There is no doubt that there will be a small number of people who fall into this category. However, in my experience, this is a very small number indeed and cannot begin to account for the increase in reoffending rates.
A more credible reason is likely to be that, unlike offences of driving with excess alcohol, there is not yet a rehabilitation scheme for those convicted of offences of drug driving. When offences of drug driving first started to be prosecuted, now more than ten years ago, it was very much new and there had been no opportunity to set up courses similar to those for drink driving.
However, more than ten years down the line, there are still no rehabilitation courses with no clear indication as to why. Evidence seems to suggest the rehabilitation courses really do help to prevent reoffending for drink driving cases and might therefore be of real assistance for drug driving matters.
However, there is yet a more likely reason for the higher rates of reoffending, and that lies in the different approaches to drug driving and drink driving that have been adopted by the law.
In relation to drink driving, the approach is very simple – the limit has been set at the level at which there is likely to be at least some (albeit not necessarily very much) adverse effect on reaction time and judgement so that those who drive above that limit are driving impaired and should be subject to prosecution. The position in relation to drugs, however, appears to be quite different in two ways.
Firstly, the levels for drugs found in the system have been set extremely low, whereas the limit for alcohol is set at the level where there is some reduction in reaction time and judgement. The limit for drugs appears to be set at a level where one may be registering a drug in the system that is above the legal limit whilst not showing any signs of impairment. This is for two reasons:
- The limit for drugs has been set very low (one can only assume that this is a clear and deliberate decision).
- That drugs remain in the system and are detectable in the system long after their intoxicating effects have passed.
To be clear then, with alcohol, the presence of alcohol indicates (depending on the level) a degree of intoxication at the time that the alcohol is detected. However, drugs remain in the system, detectable after their intoxicating effects appear to have passed, and this effect is exacerbated by the fact that not only are the drugs themselves unlawful (above the limit) but so are their breakdown products. It is an offence to drive with more than the specified quantity of the breakdown product of the drug in one’s blood, as well as the drug itself. Breakdown products are, of course, the result of the body breaking down and metabolising the drug.
Breakdown products themselves are not intoxicating but, indeed, are the result of the intoxicating effects of the drug having been effectively removed by the body, leaving only the breakdown product behind. In other words, whereas to commit an offence of excess alcohol requires you to actually be intoxicated, having consumed alcohol a short time before, to commit an offence of drug driving requires you simply to have had a drug possibly up to days before hand. No intoxicating effects at the time of driving or arrest may be present. For example, regular users of cannabis are probably permanently in excess of the limit for driving with drugs, making it extremely easy to commit the offence.
It is easy to avoid committing an offence of drink driving – simply do not drink more than a reasonable quantity shortly before you are about to drive. A reasonable quantity is not necessarily very much, but it is something, and a short while before you drive may mean only a few hours. This advice, however, will not work with those who consume drugs.
What we seem to have is a huge number of people being prosecuted for drug driving in circumstances where many, perhaps most of them, are not actually showing signs of intoxication at all.
Given the above, the high reoffending rates for drug driving should be neither a shock nor a puzzle.
