The Queensland Police Service has caught a whole bunch of cocaine-affected drivers after it expanded its roadside testing program to detect the drug, however meth is a good larger downside within the Sunshine State.
A complete of 332 drug driving offences involving cocaine have been recorded by the QPS throughout 2023.
Between July 1 and December 6, 2023, the QPS recorded 26,251 roadside checks for all drug varieties. Round one in 5 checks (5523) noticed a constructive outcome.
The variety of cocaine-affected drivers caught by roadside testing pales compared to another medication.
Knowledge reveals that between July and November, of the 4146 drug driving occurrences recorded by the QPS, over 60 per cent of drivers – or 2492 in complete – examined constructive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Simply over 57 per cent of drivers (2395) additionally examined constructive for methamphetamine.
In distinction, simply 5 per cent of drivers (244) who examined constructive for medication have been recognized as having cocaine of their system.
From July 7, 2023 the QPS expanded its roadside drug take a look at panel to include cocaine after a rise in drivers testing constructive for the drug during the last 5 years.
The Queensland Authorities says cocaine can have an effect on drivers in numerous methods together with feeling overconfident, dropping focus, driving aggressively or taking extra dangers, and having issue focussing on driving.
Drivers who return a constructive outcome for cocaine, hashish, velocity, ice and or ecstasy face a penalty of one-month licence disqualification and a fantastic of as much as $2167 for a primary offence. Repeat offenders face jail time.
“Police can undertake roadside drug testing wherever, anytime on the discretion of a police officer, whether or not it’s a randomly chosen car, on account of driver behaviour or after a site visitors crash,” a Queensland Police spokesperson instructed CarExpert.
Random roadside screening has been utilized in Queensland since 2007, and the QPS says it conducts round 50,000 random checks yearly.
Earlier than roadside swab-testing of saliva was launched, the one approach to determine drug drivers was by way of blood samples taken at a hospital.
Swab-testing has gotten faster since then, and it now takes two minutes to get a outcome – down from eight on the outset of testing.
Not like roadside breath checks (RBTs), which measure the focus of a substance, roadside drug checks are supposed to detect the mere presence of medicine, which the QPS says “shouldn’t be current in an individual’s saliva in any focus”.
MORE: Queensland Police adds another illicit drug to roadside testing