Drug-driving tests wanted by official

Press, 9 January 1986, Page 1

Drug-driving tests wanted by official

PA Rotorua A method for catching drivers who had been smoking cannabis was badly needed, said a field officer with the Society on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Mrs L. Habershon, of Kawerau. Drivers who had been smoking cannabis had impaired judgments of distance and space just like drinking drivers, she said. However, no tests such as those available for drinking drivers existed to identify them. “Cannabis smokers are as dangerous on the road and in industry as drinking alcoholics. I do not know how they (the law enforcement authorities) are going to handle that one,” Mrs Habershon said.

A former director of patient treatment centres in Featherston and Plimmerton, Mrs Habershon worked in the field of chemical dependency voluntarily for eight years before joining the society in 1982.

She admitted it was difficult to prove cannabisrelated accidents occurred as frequently as those caused by alcohol.

“All I know is what I have learnt from overseas research and the boys I have been with in treatment,” she said.

“The boys have said they have been in accidents when they were stoned. They do not see things coming towards them as quickly and they misjudge distances,” said Mrs Habershon.