In early February 2024, the Queensland Government completed a public consultation on cannabis driving laws. From that consultation, no outcome was ever released and no reform implemented.

Stakeholders had recommended:

• A medical defence for prescribed patients
• A shift to impairment-based assessment
• Alignment with other prescription medications.

The current Minister was recently asked about the status of the outstanding Drug Driving Review. In reply, Minister Brent Mickelberg said, “The Queensland Government has received a review into the current legislation and is following due process”, and would not elaborate further.

The Queensland Drug Driving Review was launched in August 2022, with a purported completion date of year-end-2024, noting the Minister intimated delays were caused by the University of the Sunshine Coast.

So why haven’t the Recommendations from the Review been released? One can only surmise that the Recommendations would be in line with current science fact, not antiquated laws.

According to the Queensland Police Service they conduct up to 50,000 roadside drug tests every year, and one in four are returning a positive result, with no effect however, on the road toll. Dean of Law at Southern Cross University, Professor David Heilpern, said the current law was created when cannabis was illegal and it was not fit for purpose anymore in Queensland.

“In Tasmania, having a medicinal cannabis prescription is accepted as a defence. Their medicinal cannabis users are legally allowed to drive, and the Tasmania road toll has not been adversely affected”, he said. Victoria has similar laws in place and New South Wales is moving to update their laws as well.

“Your average medicinal cannabis user is a woman in her 40s who suffers from chronic pain” Professor Heilpern said. “She will take her medicine at 5pm and sleep better because of it, then she wakes up in the morning and drives to work. There is no evidence that she’s unsafe to drive”.

If the goal of this Queensland Government is to implement road safety, then the law should measure impairment. That should lead to immediate action, so why hasn’t there been any? LCQ Party urges medicinal cannabis patients to email the Minister and ask him to make the Recommendations from the overdue Review public, as a matter of urgency. Queensland needs change now!

You can copy/paste and send the email below or feel free to write your own. Writing an email to an elected representative is one of the most effective ways to advocate for drug law reform. Asking the Minister about the still outstanding Review can afford a level of transparency and accountability currently missing from any discussion on ‘drug’ driving, as it relates to cannabis.

Thank you and remember that presence does not equal impairment!

EMAIL

To: The Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Brent Mickelberg MP
Re: Request for Release of Recommendations from the completed Drug Driving Review as a matter of Urgency
Email: [email protected]
Electorate office: [email protected]

I am writing regarding the outstanding Drug Driving Review originally commenced in 2022 and due for completion end of 2024, which you recently admitted is in the hands of the Government and that you are following ‘due process’, which should mean you will release the Recommendations publicly, at your earliest convenience.

Transparency is essential for good policy making and Queenslanders deserve to be treated fairly, in a non-discriminatory way when it comes to medicinal cannabis,. The law needs to change to reflect the current evidence that cannabis is not an impairing substance when taken as prescribed by medical professionals, just like other prescription medications.

I look forward to a timely response.

Yours faithfully,

[Name]
[Suburb / Electorate]