Why has the SNP failed to tackle the serious issue of drug-driving?

TODAY, doctors’ association BMA Scotland becomes the latest organisation to back the Sunday Herald’s campaign for new legislation to tackle drug-driving.

A recent analysis of fatal accidents involving drivers showed the same number died after using cannabis as those who died after drinking. The research led to calls for the Scottish Government to follow England and Wales by introducing drug-driving limits and roadside tests.

But so far the only response from the Scottish Government has been to say it is waiting for an evaluation of how the measures in England and Wales are working. Of course, making sure there is sufficient evidence is a wise move, but there has already been a major review, a consultation exercise across the UK and the example of thousands of arrests and convictions in the first year of the legislation south of the Border.

The Scottish Government took the welcome step of becoming the first country in the UK to lower the drinkdrive limit to make our roads safer. When it published a consultation on drug-driving in 2013, then-justice minister Kenny MacAskill even stated: “We must not lose sight of the problems caused by drug-drivers.”

This makes the decision to procrastinate even more baffling. The Scottish Government needs to urgently tackle the menace of drug-driving and ensure it becomes as socially unacceptable as drink-driving.