MANY DRUG USERS DRIVE WHILE HIGH

Many heroin and cannabis users regularly drive under the influence of
drugs, a National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre survey has found.

About half of all drug users in the survey said they drove at least once a
month after using drugs. One in three said they had had an accident under
the influence of illicit drugs, and that they often drove without a licence
and in unregistered cars.

Centre spokesman Paul Dillon said illicit drugs could impair perceptions,
awareness and reaction times. Young people especially needed to be educated
about the dangers.

"We know there are more young people now who aren't drinking and driving,
they are smoking (drugs) and driving, or using ecstasy or speed and
driving," he said.

Motorists in Victoria will face drug tests from July, when a law allowing
police to conduct random checks to detect amphetamines or cannabis comes
into force.

Victorian police records show 27 per cent of drivers killed in 2002 had
tested positive for drugs other than alcohol.

The drug test requires drivers to provide a saliva sample. People who have
used cannabis in the past three hours or amphetamines in the past eight
hours are expected to fail.

A drug-affected driver faces a fine of up to $600 and a three-month licence
cancellation.

The testing system will operate on a trial basis in 2004-05 and will be
subject to a parliamentary review.

The survey of 300 injecting drug users in Sydney found that 22 per cent of
those who had driven in the past year had done so at least once a week
within an hour of injecting heroin.

Twenty-one per cent drove at least weekly after using cannabis, and 14 per
cent afterusing other substances, including methadone.

Seventeen per cent of the drug users who had driven in the past year had
had an accident in that time, compared with only 1 per cent in the population.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed had driven in the past year, but
only 24 per cent had a licence. Nearly 40 per cent of drug users who had
ever driven had been caught driving an unregistered car.

Twenty-seven per cent had a record of dangerous or negligent driving, and
18 per cent had run a red light.