Drug-driving admissions spark call for roadside saliva testing

More than a third of cannabis smokers have admitted driving while high, sparking calls for random roadside saliva testing.

A report surveying cannabis consumption, published by the Ministry of Health, shows about one in 10 Kiwis say they have smoked marijuana in the past year. Of these, 37 per cent admitted driving stoned.

Men were most likely to drive high, with half of those between 35 and 44 reporting getting behind the wheel after a smoke.

The results come as the Government considers tougher enforcement of drug-driving laws, includ- ing introducing saliva testing, which is used in some Australian states. Police have been testing for drug-driving since law changes in 2009, but critics say drivers need to be ‘‘off their face’’ before they are picked up.

Only a few hundred drugdriving ‘‘impairment’’ tests are carried out each year, compared with about three million alcohol breath tests. The drug tests consist of physical checks such as pupil dilution and balance.

Automobile Association spokesman Dylan Thomsen said drugs, particularly cannabis, were a ‘‘silent killer’’ on the roads but ‘‘hardly anything’’ was being done to tackle the problem.

‘‘There are a lot more crashes involving cannabis that we realise.’’

There was widespread underestimation of the dangers of driving stoned, he said.

‘‘The tests are hardy used at all. It is only really used if someone is clearly off their face and the alcohol test has been negative.’’

Thomsen believed New Zealand should introduce saliva-based roadside drug testing.

Drug Foundation chief executive Ross Bell said many New Zealanders has bought into a ‘‘mythology’’ that driving high was safe, because they often drove more slowly. ‘‘Back in the 60s or 70s, people used to say they drove better drunk. ‘‘It’s that same argument.’’ But studies had shown stoned drivers were slower to react to hazards, and nearly twice as likely to be involved in crashes than an unimpaired driver.

Bell said there needed to be a big culture shift away from drugdriving. But he did not support saliva tests, which were expensive, slow and sometimes inaccurate.

Inspector Pete Baird, road policing operation services manager, said the law allowed police to test drivers for drugs only when there was ‘‘good cause’’ for suspicion, as opposed to alcohol testing, which could carried out on any driver.

Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss said the Ministry of Transport was reviewing how drug-driving laws were enforced, which would include looking at the extent of the problem and whether saliva tests could work.