You might be right about the reliability of those roadside tests. I work on the railway in the U.K., and a few of my colleagues have failed drug and alcohol tests due to over the counter painkillers like Ibuprofen showing up as opiates. Blood tests are a lot more accurate, I believe.
Oh yeah, roadside tests aren’t even used as legal evidence anymore, as far as I’m aware. (Maybe if they have no other choice. But still.)
Largely due to their overall unreliability. Hence blood testing afterwards.
And yeah there are a lot of pain killers, sold over the counter even, that contain opiates for instance. That’s the trouble with drugs in general. Whilst they are admittedly very easy to abuse, a lot of the chemical makeup found in illicit drugs is also used for legitimate medical purposes. Everything from opiates to CBD as discussed and indeed even some ingredients found in hard drugs. Some prescription drugs may make you fail a roadside test because of their ingredients. Always carry your doctor’s note, just in case, that’s what I say!
And yeah, cannabis seems to stay in the blood a long time; we see far more positive results for cannabis than alcohol..
I think that’s why they’re reviewing the laws.
Whilst I don’t think people should be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, there is nuance to consider as well.
As in all things.
Is recreational cannabis legal in any states in Australia? It’s still illegal in the U.K., but it’s everywhere, you can’t walk down a street in London without smelling it, so I suppose it will have to be legalised eventually. I’m sure the government could use the tax revenue, if nothing else.
Only Medicinal cannabis is legal on a federal level.
As of now only the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) has legalised recreational weed, albeit only allowing for small personal amounts.
The rest of the states have made recreational weed illegal. And indeed they vary on their strictness with regards to the legal sale, growth and possession of medicinal cannabis. Though with growing public support of the Legalise Cannabis Party (yes, that’s a real political party in Aus as of 1993) that very well may change in the near future. Especially with increasingly relaxed attitudes towards weed from the general public as of late. Likely due to it being perceived as “not as bad” as other drugs on the market.
Australia does have a lot of anti drug laws, but we don’t have nearly the same amount of fervour in our “war on drugs” as our Yank counterparts. Indeed that awful approach may have helped recreational drug use lobbyists in the long run in other countries, to be honest
And yea, there’s a lot of the old weed smell when you walk some streets here, is all I’ll say lol
A State-by-State Guide to Cannabis in Australia
Legalise Cannabis Australia - Wikipedia
