While THC containing cannabis medicines are often the best and more cost effective medicines for many patients with chronic complex disease, too many patients are avoiding THC containing cannabis medicines due to the risk of losing their licence. This outdated driving law is discriminatory to medicinal cannabis patients and is denying patients experiencing serious health problems access to the most appropriate cannabis medicines for them.
Current Road Side Drug testing, tests for traces of medical cannabis and not impairment. As Medical Cannabis is fat soluble it can stay in your body for upwards of 2 weeks. Impairment duration of medical cannabis is between 2- 8 hours after a dose. Impairment based testing need to be implemented to allow patients to access treatment and to allow a budding industry to move forward within Australia.
Patients who qualify for medicinal cannabis in Australia and need to drive are advised not to. The current driving laws say it’s illegal to drive even if a patient is not impaired. Drive Change and the result of fair and equal laws is an important way forward for these patients.
Medically prescribed products containing THC have shown value and safety in the management of a number of important clinical conditions, including debilitating chronic pain. Emyria who have seen over 3500 patients upholds evidence-based investigation and pharmacovigilance. Many patients are unfairly prohibited from access to these products by out-of-date driving legislation and testing that is not evidence-based. We need to Drive Change to prohibit driving with impairment, not driving with improvement.
The laws around medicinal cannabis have not kept pace with the science and reflect a historic view of the substance an its use. It is time for laws which treat those using medicinal cannabis to improve their quality of life in a fair manner whilst also maintaining road safety. The two aims are not mutually exclusive.
Patients who are are legally prescribed and properly using these medications are not impaired, yet they cannot drive, it’s absurd. THC of course can cause impairment, but it can also be used in small amounts effectively without impairment.
The current driving law is a major barrier preventing many doctors from incorporating medical cannabis into their practice and has nothing to do with impairment, randomly testing medical cannabis patients just confirms they are taking their medications.
As the number of registered medical cannabis patients in Australia continues to grow, there is a pressing need to look critically at the current approach to cannabis and driving.
There is a very good body of evidence showing that levels of THC in the body do not correspond well to a person’s level of impairment, the amount of cannabis consumed or the time when it was consumed. This raises serious concerns around the suitability of the current random drug testing approach for patients who are using prescribed medical cannabis.
Personal narratives are powerful instruments of change. As an advocate for patients and now a patient myself, I’ve driven more than my fair share of country miles.
To enable medicinal cannabis patients to have equal driving rights in the eyes of the law, I invite you to share your story that will help us to #DriveChange
The laws are unjust. There’s no other legal medication without a defence for presence.
The science isn’t there. Presence doesn’t correlate to impairment and mouth swabs are inaccurate.
People are being hurt. Patients are scared and each time a test for presence comes back positive on a non-impaired patient, a life is ruined.
Government officials and MPs, you are the voice of Australians. We need you to work with your colleagues for the good of the community.
Allow us to sit with you to show you the problems and to support you in fighting for equal driving rights for legal medical cannabis patients. Together we can Drive Change.
Send us a message with your intent to become an ally.