Source: West Australian, The (Australia)
Contact: FAX: +61 8 94823830
Pubdate: 5 Nov 1998
Source: The West Australian
Section: Page 10
Author: Kirsten Watts

WA PLANS DRUG TESTS

New technology on way to check drivers at booze buses

THE State Government is considering random testing and penalties for
driving under the influence of drugs, according to a senior official.

Terry Murphy, executive director of the WA Drug Abuse Strategy Office, said
the Government was looking seriously at using technology which would allow
police to carry out random roadside drug tests.

The Government was waiting for appropriate technology, which would pick up
drugs including marijuana, amphetamines and tranquillisers, to be developed
in Germany. Mr Murphy said he hoped the testing could start in the next two
years.

"At this staqe, the best feedback we have been getting is in regard to
saliva tests," he said.

Perspiration wipes had been considered but Mr Murphy said that method was
too cumbersome and costly.

Sobriety tests, whore a person suspected of driving under the influence of
drugs was asked to walk a straight line or hop on one foot, were not
definitive enough. They were effective only where there was gross impairment.

Blood tests were too intrusive to be used on a random basis and the process
was costly.

It is expected the tests will be run in tandem with booze buses.

Mr Murphy said a more refined penalty schedule for driving under the
influence of drugs, similar to the penalties in place for drink-driving,
would be introduced through Parliament.

"You would be looking along the lines of fines and licence suspensions
already in place for drink-driving." he said.

Rod Tattersall, the manager of Drager, the company developing the testing
technology, said it was not unreasonable to expect the tests would be ready
within the next two years.

Saliva testing for drugs was available but the process needed to be refined
if it was going to be used for random testing.

The technology which would be used eventually would be able to distinguish
between the actual drug and the metabolic that the body produced as a
result of being in contact with the drug.

"That way you can distinguish whether the person is actually under the
influence of the drug or whether the person has just been in contact with
the drug at some stage." Mr Tattersall said.

Nina Lyhne, director of policy and strategy at the Office of Road Safety,
said from a road safety perspective, alcohol would always be the drug of
greatest concern.

But research had shown people who drove under the influence of drugs such
as tranquillizers increased their chances of having an accident.

Marijuana appeared to pose less of a threat to a person's ability to drive
safely.

Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman said he
supported random drug tests for drivers but said it would be better if the
testing was introduced as a uniform measure across the nation. 
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Checked-by: Mike Gogulski