Welcome News for Victorian Drivers with Medicinal Cannabis Presciptions

If you have been caught driving whilst suspended or disqualified, chances are you weren’t committing any other road traffic offence at the time…

Medicinal Cannabis and Drug Driving

In 2016, Victoria introduced laws allowing doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis for certain medical conditions.  Unfortunately, the Government did not update the Road Safety Act 1986. That has led to a situation where people can legally use cannabis with THC, but they will then be fined or taken to Court for driving while the THC is still detectable, resulting in a mandatory loss of licence.  

THC can stay in the system for weeks, meaning the medicinal cannabis users have had to make a decision about treating their medical condition with medicinal cannabis, or driving their car and risking losing their licence.

At the moment (November 2024) all drug driving cases, including driving with medicinal cannabis will result in a loss of licence for either six months (first offence) or one year (second or subsequent offence).

Still Illegal, but No Loss of Licence

In laws introduced to Parliament in October 2024, people charged with drug driving as a result of medicinal cannabis, will be able to go to Court to argue why they should not lose their licence.   This will be a significant change.  These laws are not in operation yet, so all cases decided prior to the formal commencement of the laws, will still result in a loss of licence.

It is still illegal to drive with medicinal cannabis in your system, but under these new laws, you have a chance to keep your licence by going to Court.

When Are the Changes Happening?

These temporary laws are expected to come into effect on 1 March 2025.  

What Should I Do Now?

If you have been charged with drug driving using medicinal cannabis, but have not lost your licence yet, or the case has not been to court, you should contact us to discuss having your case dealt with after the laws come into place.

In Victoria, if a law is relaxed, you are entitled to get the benefit of the lower punishment, even if your offence was committed prior to the new laws being introduced.

If your case has been finalised already, you must serve out the loss of licence remaining.

Why Is The Law Changing?

This law is a temporary change until more permanent changes are introduced.  The Victorian Government has been talking about changing these laws for two years.  Originally, new drug driving laws were introduced into parliament that made it legal to drive with medicinal cannabis in your system.  However, those laws never came into force.  The Government is still looking at legalising drug driving with medicinal cannabis but has decided to do more background work and testing.   The Government is going to do testing on medicinal cannabis users and driving on roads, but that will take years to complete.

The changes introduced last week (October 2024) are a temporary measure.  It will mean that it is still an offence to drive with medicinal cannabis in your system, but we can now go to Court and argue why you should not lose your licence.

We have acted for many people who lost their licence under the current laws.  That has resulted in people losing their jobs, their homes and in some cases their relationships. 

While the law still needs to change further, that will take many years.  

This temporary change stopping medicinal cannabis users from losing their licence for drug driving, will have a big impact on people who would previously have lost their licence because theym used a drug that was legally prescribed to them.

Summary

If you have a drug driving case and you are a medicinal cannabis user, contact us immediately to see if we can save your licence.