I PUFFED IT PASSIVELY

“As far as we are aware, passive consumption just doesn’t turn up in tests. You’re risking jail ... It’s time to start respecting the rules.”

A ROOF plumber has blamed passive drug smoking for testing positive while behind the wheel.

Ocean Grove man Callan Hodgkinson, 27, will be off the roads for six months after pleading guilty in Geelong Magistrates’ Court yesterday to drug-driving and driving while suspended.

Hodgkinson was pulled over shortly after midnight on May 28 while driving east on the Bellarine Highway near Leopold.

A subsequent oral fluid test revealed he was driving with ice and cannabis in his system.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Siobhan Daly said Hodgkinson told officers he hadn’t consumed drugs for six months and the reading was due to friends smoking ice and cannabis in his car while he drove.

The claim was repeated in court by his lawyer, who said Hodgkinson didn’t have a drug problem.

But magistrate Peter Mellas disputed the assertion, saying: “As far as we are aware, passive consumption just doesn’t turn up in tests.” Hodgkinson, who is self-employed and lives with his parents, also drove twice in four days while his licence was suspended.

On top of losing his licence for another six months, Hodgkinson was fined $650.

“You’re risking jail ... It’s time to start respecting the rules,” Mr Mellas said.