Aussie drink-driving laws have similar penalties, but our BAC level is still at .05. This will be moved to .02 in the coming years. Be safe for you, your family and the person you may injure because, you thought you were ‘ok to drive!’
SHOULD YOU BE DRIVING? DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE....EVER!
Imagine if you had to tell a family that their child was never coming home again...because a driver had a few too many drinks and they were too lazy to get a taxi? How would you feel if it was your child? Your brother, your parent, your best friend? Now imagine that you're the one who had a few drinks and thought...Home isn't too far. I'll make it without getting busted. While on the back streets worrying if the booze bus will catch you, you hit someone. How do you live with that for the rest of your life?
December is National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Check out a few key frequently asked questions and answers about drug-impaired driving below.
What is drug-impaired driving? Driving under the influence of over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, marijuana, or illegal drugs.
How common is drug-impaired driving? In 2019, 13.7 million people (ages 16 and older) drove after using illicit drugs. Of that total,12.8 million people were under the influence of marijuana (2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Detailed Tables).
This is an increase from 2018 when 12.6 million people (aged 16 and older) admitted to driving after using drugs.
Why is drug-impaired driving dangerous? Over-the-counter (OTC) medications and drugs affect the brain and can alter perception, mental processes, attention, balance, coordination, reaction time and other abilities required for safe driving. Even small amounts of some drugs can have a serious effect on driving ability.
What substances are used the most when driving? After alcohol, marijuana is the most commonly used drug. (Source: National Institute of Drug Abuse)
What happens when you use drugs and drive? Marijuana can decrease a person’s ability to drive a car. It slows reaction time, impairs a driver’s concentration and attention, and reduces hand-eye coordination. It is dangerous to drive after mixing alcohol and marijuana. Driving after using prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicine, such as cough suppressants, antihistamines, sleeping aids, and anti-anxiety medications may impair driving ability.
Check out the graphic below from the National Institute on Drug Abuse about the effects different drugs can have on driving (click to enlarge).
Is it legal? Even in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational use, driving while under the influence of marijuana is still illegal. Unfortunately, too many people are misinformed. A study conducted by Liberty Mutual Insurance and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) found that a third of all teens believe it is legal to drive under the influence of marijuana. In addition 27 percent of parents believed it was legal.
Not only is driving while high illegal, it's also very dangerous. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the effects of marijuana can include: altered senses and sense of time, slow reaction time, anxiety, hallucinations and more.
Cannabidiol (CBD) – a key component of medicinal cannabis products – does not impair driving, a landmark study led by Australian researchers has found.
Researchers found that a moderate amount of THC produces mild driving impairment, but the effects wear off after four hours.
The study is the first to show the lack of CBD effects on driving and to provide a clear indication of the duration of THC impairment.
The study was led by researchers from the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney and conducted at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.
Previous studies have looked at the effects of cannabis on driving, but they have not “precisely quantified the duration of impairment” from THC, and most have overlooked CBD entirely.
“This is the first study to illustrate the lack of CBD effects on driving and to also provide a clear indication of the duration of THC impairment,” Professor McGregor said.
He said the results “should reassure people using CBD-only products that they are most likely safe to drive, while helping patients using THC-dominant products to understand the duration of impairment”. For complete article New Daily.Com.au
But this new single study is at odds of other research ...
Those findings don’t gel with prior research. Asbridge et al (2012) completed a systematic review and concluded that cannabis contributed to vehicle collision risk. In their review of trends in states and nations that have legalised, Fischer et al (2020) note that cannabis-related road fatalities show a tend to have increased.
Asbridge M, Hayden JA, Cartwright JL. (2012) Acute cannabis consumption and motor vehicle collision risk: systematic review of observational studies and meta-analysis. BMJ. 344:e536. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e536.
Fischer B, Daldegan-Bueno D, Boden JM. (2020) Facing the option for the legalisation of cannabis use and supply in New Zealand: An overview of relevant evidence, concepts and considerations. Drug Alcohol Rev. 39(5):555-567. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/dar.13087.
Queensland’s renowned roadside police drug testing unit has been unceremoniously shut down after 13 years, leaving 20 officers out of a job and awaiting reassignment.
The unit has been on the front line of Queensland‘s fight against drug driving, conducting up to 25 per cent of the state’s 75,000 random drug tests each, The Courier-Mail was told.
The officers were called into a meeting at Nundah Station on Monday with Assistant Commissioner Ben Marcus and told they were now surplus to requirements and would be reassigned when positions became available.
All officers were told to handover a list of three preferences for where they would like to be assigned to next, a source at the meeting said.
“They‘re miserable,” the source said.
Opposition police spokesman Dan Purdie said the move was a concern, given the spike in the road toll this year. “Roadside drug testing is a vital tool in cracking down on drug affected drivers who shouldn’t be on the road,“ he said.
“I’m gobsmacked by this decision which once again highlights why Queenslanders deserve to see a full state budget before the state election. “We need more police on the ground to prevent and detect crime and that’s what the LNP will deliver.” “The capability and capacity to perform roadside drug testing around the state will not be impacted by these changes,” Commissioner Carroll said.
DRIVING while hungover may be as dangerous as getting behind the wheel when drunk.
But in a frightening twist, you’re not likely to care about your shoddy driving skills the day after a night on the grog.
New Australian research into the cause and effects of hangovers also shows how sick you feel the day after drinking can be determined by your genes, with some people more genetically predisposed to bad hangovers than others.
The studies at Swinburne’s Centre for Human Psychopharmacology — conducted in collaboration with international experts — promises to change the way we think about driving after drinking.
“Research by some of my colleagues in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands ... found that driving impairment is equivalent when hungover to driving with a BAC above the legal driving limit,” Sarah Benson of Swinburne said.
One of the criteria for someone being classified as “having a hangover” , was that they had a zero, or very close to zero, blood alcohol concentration , she said.
“Otherwise we would be measuring the effects of residual alcohol and not of a hangover ,” she said.
“When people are hungover , they are definitely blowing under the legal limit, but their driving is
Road safety chief at the TAC, Samantha Cockfield, said impairment from alcohol could last for a long time after drinking had stopped.
“If we don’t feel like we are OK to drive, the chances are we aren’t ,” she said.
World Federation Against Drugs (W.F.A.D) Dalgarno Institute is a member of this global initiative. For evidence based data on best practice drug policy in the global context.
The Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. is to reduce the use of illegal drugs. We work to achieve this mission by conducting research, promoting ideas that are affordable and scalable...
Drug Free Australia Website.
Drug Free Australia is a peak body, representing organizations and individuals who value the health and wellbeing of our nation...
(I.T.F.S.D.P) This international peak body continues to monitor and influence illicit drug policy on the international stage. Dalgarno Institute is a member organisation.
The National Alliance for Action on Alcohol is a national coalition of health and community organisations from across Australia that has been formed with the goal of reducing alcohol-related harm.
RiverMend Health is a premier provider of scientifically driven, specialty behavioral health services to those suffering from alcohol and drug dependency, dual disorders, eating disorders, obesity and chronic pain.
