The Victorian Labor Government has advised LCV that the closed-circuit track driving trial for medicinal cannabis patients won’t be completed until mid-2026. This directly contradicts their previous undertaking that it would be completed by December 2024.

This is a huge blow for medicinal cannabis patients who have been legally allowed to access their medicine since 2016, but denied the right to drive when unimpaired. 

Roadside drug testing tests for presence, not impairment and there remains no exemption for medicinal cannabis patients. This has forced many patients to revert to dangerous opioids or benzodiazepines.

LCV is bitterly disappointed that the Allan Labor Government has not shown courage on this issue – ‘kicking the can’ down the road for reform of driving laws – and calls on the Government to support LCV’s Bill to allow patients a medical defence.