Police drug driving purge snares middle class professionals
Dentists and teachers now risk losing their jobs
SCOTLAND’S tough new laws on drug-driving have led to large numbers of middle-class professionals being arrested for taking cannabis.
Now lawyers have warned that they not only face losing their licences, but their jobs as well.
Among those arrested in the past few months have been dentists, teachers and university lecturers.
Glasgow-based road traffic law expert Richard Freeman said: ‘I’ve had clients in tears because they fear their lives and careers are in ruins. The impact of this one error of judgment is calamitous.’
Since October, Police Scotland has had the powers to carry out roadside testing on any motorist suspected of having taken drugs.
Cannabis smokers are at the greatest risk because the drug can stay in the body for weeks.
Mr Freeman is representing five professional clients charged with drug-driving, including a dentist who, if convicted, would also face disciplinary action from the profession’s governing body.
He said: ‘People do not realise a single puff could still be in their bloodstream days and weeks later.
‘A conviction for drug-driving could have even greater consequences than one for drink-driving. They could lose their jobs, their homes, and their right to practise.’
Drug-driving can lead to a 12month driving ban, an unlimited fine, or up to six months in prison.
The legal driving limit for cannabis is almost zero, increasing the numbers facing prosecution. Kris Buchanan, director of Scullion Law, said: ‘We’ve had lecturers and academics and other professionals turning to us for help.
‘The new tests are being done to such fine margins that if someone has smoked cannabis in the last month it will show up. People seem to be oblivious to the personal and professional ramifications.’
Police use a mouth swab called
DrugWipe to check for cannabis and cocaine. If positive, drivers are asked to take a blood test at a police station for up to 17 other narcotics, including heroin and ecstasy.
Police Scotland has made around 1,000 drug-driving arrests since October. The figures are 50 per cent higher than expected and more than elsewhere in the UK.
Pharmacologist Dr Paul Skett, who runs an expert witness service in Glasgow for lawyers representing motorists charged with drink and drug-driving, said: ‘Cannabis can stay in the body longer than the vast majority of drugs. Fatty tissue absorbs the THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – from the blood, stores it, then later releases it back into the bloodstream.
‘Overweight cannabis smokers are at even greater risk because there is more fat to store the THC. It’s also very hard with the current drug-drive legislation for lawyers to dispute any police evidence.’
Chief Superintendent Louise Blakelock, head of road policing, said: ‘We have been testing a wide spectrum of drivers for drugs. If you are found to be driving under the influence, action will be taken.’