Crackdown on drug-drivers

[Tom]

PREMIER Anna Bligh has pledged to crack down on dangerous drug-addled drivers with Queensland police due to begin roadside testing within weeks.

Police expect to drug-test up to 20,000 drivers in the next 12 months, with the number of roadside tests likely to increase in the following years.

 

"It's time to get tough – don't say you weren't warned," Ms Bligh said yesterday after the state's road toll sped past 300.

 

Drivers will be tested for cannabis, ecstasy, speed and ice as well as breathalysed in roadside drug and alcohol blitzes around the state.

 

"The prospect of my family being on the same road as someone on ice terrifies me," Ms Bligh said.

 

As of yesterday, the state's road toll was 300 – 38 ahead of the same period last year.

 

Last year 335 people died on Queensland roads. The highest road toll in the past decade was 360 in 1997.

 

The Premier said it was obvious that drugs were a killer on our roads.

 

She said evidence from north Queensland drug-driver testing trials and Victorian drug testing of drivers showed illicit drug use was more prevalent than alcohol use among drivers.

 

And it's not just illicit drugs that are a problem. One in four Queensland drivers have got behind the wheel after taking medicinal prescription drugs which can hinder vision and reaction times, according to a survey by insurer AAMI.

 

On Wednesday, the Australian Drug Foundation will release findings of a national research project on drug driving.

 

Drug-driving legislation was introduced in Queensland on October 1.

 

Drug testing will operate state-wide at locations based on police intelligence from early December, Police Minister Judy Spence said yesterday.

 

"We are determined to catch those people who play Russian roulette with the lives of others on Queensland roads," Ms Spence said. The testing will result in lengthy roadside delays for some drivers.

 

After being breathalysed, a mouth swab will be taken if drug use is suspected.

 

The swab is then put into a cylinder of chemical liquid which takes three to five minutes to show if drug traces are present. If the first saliva sample proves positive, drivers will be taken to a roadside test van to provide a second sample, which will be sent away to a laboratory for analysis.

 

Author: Kay Dibben and Paula Doneman

Date: October 28, 2007

Source: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...366-952,00.html

Copyright: © Queensland Newspapers.

 

[67Special]

Thanks for the heads-up Tom, we've been waiting for this

And it's not just illicit drugs that are a problem. One in four Queensland drivers have got behind the wheel after taking medicinal prescription drugs which can hinder vision and reaction times, according to a survey by insurer AAMI.

Why aren't drivers tested for these drugs also?

 

Is Ms Bligh admitting that it's ok to use prescription drugs irresponsibly, but not recreational drugs?

 

Lets see just how much this impacts on the road toll. If there isn't a dramatic drop in road fatalities over the next 12 mths, this testing will be proven to be an incredible waste of police resources and inconvenience to drivers.

 

I think someone needs to develop a roadside test for stupidity, I'm sure that's a bigger problem on our roads than all drugs combined. Only problem then is that the cops themselves would struggle to pass their own tests

 

[Indycar]

Well done Ms Bligh...

 

Obviously she missed the news a couple of weeks back that reported that Qld Police are blowing into bags themselves so they can achieve target quota's for breath testing.

 

"The prospect of my family being on the same road as someone on ice terrifies me," Ms Bligh said.

 

The thought of her running the state, and introducing knee jerk legislation terrifies me.

 

Anyway, Good luck on introducing drug tests, it's got me buggered how they're going do it when the fuzz can't manage alcohol testing as it is...

 

[WantDaChronic]

well if they are testing for all the favourite drugs aussies take, but are leaving perscription medications alone, i bet queensland doctors will have an influx of patients soon all claiming to have bad backs or something along those lines in order to get some valium, oxycontin, etc. which will all hammer you, but wont get picked up by the police

[Bhangers and mash]

thanks for the heads up mate, I've got to see the old lady up there soon.

[bongonaussie]

thanks a lot Anna..

[ilky]

to get some valium, oxycontin, etc. which will all hammer you, but wont get picked up by the police

 

Or they will pick you up but give you $50 when you point out they shouldn't have

[jimbojones5678]

I believe that Ben Cousins recently showed us the way to go if you are going to test positive...

[bufo marinus]

"It's time to get tough – don't say you weren't warned," Ms Bligh said yesterday after the state's road toll sped past 300.

 

The Premier said it was obvious that drugs were a killer on our roads.

 

And it's not just illicit drugs that are a problem. One in four Queensland drivers have got behind the wheel after taking medicinal prescription drugs which can hinder vision and reaction times, according to a survey by insurer AAMI.

 

On Wednesday, the Australian Drug Foundation will release findings of a national research project on drug driving.

 

Drug-driving legislation was introduced in Queensland on October 1.

 

Drug testing will operate state-wide at locations based on police intelligence from early December, Police Minister Judy Spence said yesterday.

 

"We are determined to catch those people who play Russian roulette with the lives of others on Queensland roads," Ms Spence said. The testing will result in lengthy roadside delays for some drivers.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...366-952,00.html

Copyright: © Queensland Newspapers.

 

 

Well they can't do anything about THE FUCKING WATER so it's time to go kick the drug addicts up the arse instead.

Fucking insurance companies, there just as big a parasites as these non productive politicians. Thanks to there fucked up drug policies/drug testing, amphetamine use is rampant in the mining industry now as it is easier to pass after a weekend on the gear than it is after smoking

Fuck voting Labor

Vote GREEN

[loylty gets u nothing]

looks like pushy up for bil

hehehehhehe

fuck that

bil