Curbside mouth swabs more curse than cure? (1 Viewer)

[kami]

Curbside mouth swabs more curse than cure

Roadside drug testing has more to do with politicians scoring political points than it does about keeping our roads safe an expert in forensic chemistry announced at a UTSpeaks public lecture last week.

<snip>

"It is quite clear that heroin was not included in the legislation for political reasons. Once in the body heroin is rapidly converted to morphine and any test to detect heroin users would also identify those people being treated with morphine for legitimate medical purposes. In addition there is a long list of drugs used for medical conditions that are not tested for but may cause impaired driving."

According to Prof Dawson while the laws allow for the detection of illicit drugs they are flawed in that they do not measure the level of impairment a driver may be experiencing - as is the case with alcohol.

"A consistent approach must be adopted for all drugs that impair driving performance if we are to honestly talk about road safety within the broader community," Professor Dawson said. "We must be clear about whether these laws are about the policing of illicit drugs versus policing of driver impairment.

"If it is about the latter then a standard level of impairment needs to be established, at and above which it can reasonably be said that driving becomes an unacceptable risk as is the case with alcohol. Driving with a blood concentration above this limit should be an offence in exactly the same way that drink driving is an offence. As is the case with alcohol there should be low, mid and high range offences."

Professor Dawson said as things stand there are major flaws in the way these laws were written and that serious legal complexities would almost certainly arise as a consequence.

"An enormous can of worms has been opened, it will clog up the courts for years on end and provide endless work for lawyers, analytical chemists and expert witnesses," he said.

Source: http://www.uts.edu.au/new/index.html

So what are your thoughts? What is more important - dealing with driver impairment or dealing with drug abuse?

 

[Captain Obvious 1]

Legalise drugs completely then have the same standards as alcohol testing

[/thread]

Drugs have been criminalised for a reason.

 

[mr_brightside]

...and that is?

 

[Captain Obvious 1]

You can see the reasons on the other thread about it

 

[withoutaface]

You can see the reasons on the other thread about it

Because people such as yourself believe that they have the right to tell me what to ingest into my own body in the comfort of my own home? Or because you like the idea of drug overdoses due to inconsistent quality? Or maybe you like the flow on crime that results from extravagant methods of importation creating inflated prices?

 

[AntiHyper]

I thought speed would increase your driving ability as it makes you more alert.

 

[gerhard]

except when you come down, antihyper

 

[townie]

Legalise drugs completely then have the same standards as alcohol testing

[/thread]

<3

 

[The Brucemaster]

Because people such as yourself believe that they have the right to tell me what to ingest into my own body in the comfort of my own home?

Fair enough if you're in your own home, if you want to fuck yourself over (not saying you personally. of course, but in general) then go ahead I guess. The problem in this case, however, is when you decided to take the effects of drugs outside the home where they will most likely, in the case of driving, affect other people.

Or because you like the idea of drug overdoses due to inconsistent quality?

Again, fair enough, I agree with you here. Although I'm sure decriminalisation of ALL drugs would create other problems such as an increase in general consumption, creating a flow on effect to other criminal behaviour.

Or maybe you like the flow on crime that results from extravagant methods of importation creating inflated prices?

Well, as I just said, there's more than likely going to be an increase in criminal behaviour if we decriminalise all drugs and seeing as the importation/supply/possession of illegal drugs is in itself a crime then the crime that results from extravagant importation methods is of little relative consequence.

Theoretically I tend to agree with decriminalisation but it has numerous practical problems, mainly the stigma that is associated with legalising drugs. Many people just see it as encouraging drug use etc. without realising that, theoretically at least, it is an effective way of reducing the deaths and crime associated with drugs.