Cannabis law reform
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:36): (811) My question is to the Minister for Roads and Road Safety in the other place, represented by Minister Shing. We welcome changes to the Road Safety Act that will offer a modicum of justice to the thousands of medicinal cannabis patients who have been nervous about driving while taking their prescribed medication, and we commend the government on its reforms. The changes come into effect on 1 March and will replace the mandatory loss of licence for a person found with THC in their system at a roadside drug test, instead allowing a magistrate discretion not to automatically cancel the person’s licence if they are unimpaired when tested and have an up-to-date script for medicinal cannabis. We ask: what is the government doing to inform patients and the wider community of this important reform?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:37): Thank you very much for that question, Mr Ettershank. As you rightly point out, I have responsibility for referring matters on to the relevant minister in the other place, and I will do so for a response in accordance with the standing orders.
David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (12:37): I thank the minister for her assistance. The process for a patient to have their matter heard before a magistrate if they have tested positive for THC while driving is not as straightforward as one might suppose. A driver may not know that if they do nothing, their licence will automatically be suspended or that they have to elect to have their case transferred to the Magistrates’ Court. We ask: what is the government doing in terms of providing easy-to-access legal guidance to prescription holders who are found to have THC in their system during a roadside drug test?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:38): Again I will seek an answer from the minister in accordance with the standing orders.