Driving ban rule change urged for medicinal cannabis users
A state parliamentary committee has recommended changing laws to allow medicinal cannabis patients to legally drive on South Australian roads.
The Interim Report on the Legalisation of Medicinal Cannabis, tabled in Parliament last week, recommends changes to the South Australian Road Traffic Act, which a joint committee says hinder the lives of medicinal cannabis users.
Of the report’s 13 recommendations, the first calls on the government to draft amendments to provide that it will not be an offence to drive with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in one’s system if prescribed medicinal cannabis while not impaired.
Committee chair and Greens MLC Tammy Franks said similar laws were already in place in Tasmania and that the lives of medicinal cannabis users would be transformed if South Australian road rules were to change.
“If they’re not impaired, they’re taking their medicine in the way that they’re prescribed, then we’re saying to the Malinauskas government: let’s put this out to the community, let’s have a conversation,” she said.
“If they can do it in Tasmania – and they are doing it in Tasmania safely – surely here in South Australia we can stop criminalising patients.”
Other report recommendations call for research into methods of technologies to assess impairment, updates to industrial relations legislation to let medicinal cannabis patients undertake work where it is otherwise unlawful, and updates to planning laws to minimise barriers for those wanting to open medicinal cannabis clinics.
Medicinal cannabis was legalised federally in 2016 with changes to the Narcotics Drugs Act 1967, permitting the cultivation of the drug for medicinal purposes and allowing TGA-approved products to be prescribed to patients.
Asked by InDaily how police could test for impairment of medicinal cannabis patients, Franks said: “That’s the million dollar question.”
“Our roadside drug testing regime only tests for presence of THC. In Australia, we have rolled out a roadside drug testing regime that’s like no other in the world,” she said.
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“In Tasmania, the way their law evolved provided that where somebody is simply charged with presence of THC in their system, they have a defence so they can take it through the courts and they can have justice if they can prove that they were not impaired and that the THC was being taken according to prescription and lawfully.
“That’s all we’re asking for in South Australia. We’re not asking for people to be allowed to drive dangerously.
“We are simply saying, given your roadside drug testing only looks for presence, that patient needs to be able to have a defence under South Australian law.”
Joint committee member and Liberal MLC Ben Hood said he was “extremely proud of the recommendations”.
“We have heard evidence from across the board, from people who are utilising medicinal cannabis, from industry and from people advocating for the fact that presence of medicinal cannabis or THC does not necessarily mean impairment when driving,” he said.
“We know that people who are utilising medicinal cannabis with THC are getting huge benefits for their health but unfortunately they are being hampered by the current laws. They cannot drive if they have presence of THC – whether they’re impaired or not.
“Having a licence gives you personal freedoms. It allows you to visit your friends and your family, to go to work, to do all of those important things that everybody should be able to do when they have their driver’s licence.
“What these recommendations would do is urge the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to draft legislation to seriously consider this issue and put it onto public consultation so that people who are utilising this medicine – and it is medicine – that they can have a great quality of life.”
InDaily spoke to medicinal cannabis patient Aaron Mason, who was prescribed the drug to alleviate pain and symptoms of anxiety.
He said the prescription “literally changed [his] life within six months”, and that updates to South Australian road rules would be “critical”.
“I live in the Barossa. I am a single father of my disabled son, so I am very hampered on even getting my son around. Now I have to rely on government transport,” he said.
“It makes no sense to me that I can have a painkiller – I can have a Valium, I can have Demerol, I can have this or that – but I can’t have a little bit of pot.
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“To me, it’s all common sense. You don’t go out [on the road] when you’re drunk. The government needs to relax the rules and accept it is beneficial. It helps a lot of people across the board.”
A government spokesperson thanked the committee for its report and said the recommendations would be considered “in due course”.
“Our drug driving reforms were introduced to address the unacceptably high number of lives lost on our roads, and to remove dangerous drivers from the road immediately,” they said.
“The Government is open-minded to further improvements while ensuring road safety outcomes are maintained and any action taken is informed by research.”
SAPOL Traffic Services Branch Officer in Charge, Superintendent Darren Fielke said: “South Australia Police have worked with the Government to provide information as requested related to the proposed medicinal cannabis legislation reforms and will work to implement any changes recommended by Parliament”.
Planning law changes recommended
Another recommendation from the Interim Report calls on changes to SA planning laws for the purpose of “seeking to identify options to remove or minimise unnecessary barriers to, and to optimise the benefit to be obtained by, establishing medicinal cannabis business in South Australia”.
Franks said operators of medicinal cannabis clinics in the state would “tell you the horror stories of actually just getting the approvals”.
“We’re talking about something that’s been demonised because it was prohibited, but with the federal changes that made medicinal cannabis lawful we haven’t gotten rid of the stigma,” she said.
These changes would make opening clinics easier for the likes of IvyMed Clinic founder Aaron Langman who recently opened two new clinics in Norwood and Salisbury, taking his business’ clinic footprint to four alongside clinics at Prospect and Pasadena.
At Langman’s new Norwood and Salisbury clinics is Dr Ross Ambler – a GP with nearly 30 years of experience.
There, he consults with South Australians face-to-face and conducts eligibility tests to assess appropriate treatments.
Speaking to InDaily, Langman said there was a “growing need for patients to access alternative treatments”.
“We were the first dedicated medicinal cannabis clinic in South Australia,” he said.
“These additional clinics highlight the growing demand for alternative treatments for people who have had no success with traditional medications.
“We believe that changing the rules is one of the most critical issues facing patient access to appropriate treatments.”
A government spokesperson said it would consider the recommendations around changing planning laws “in due course”.
