Victoria to Allow Medical Cannabis Patients to Drive in Pilot Program
The authorities of Victoria, Australia, are launching an experimental program that will allow medical cannabis patients to drive vehicles, with the goal of evaluating the results of these trials.
Victoria Leads the Way in Medical Cannabis Policy
Victoria became the first Australian state to legalize medical cannabis in 2016. However, current laws prohibit residents from driving under the influence of THC, which means patients legally using cannabis for treatment are not allowed to drive. Last year, former Victorian Health Minister Daniel Andrews proposed finding a solution to this issue, aiming to give approximately 200,000 medical cannabis users the legal right to drive.
Premier Jacinta Allan has taken the first step toward implementing this project. On May 21, she announced the upcoming start of trials in which medical cannabis users will be allowed to drive. The government has allocated 4.9 million Australian dollars (about 295 million rubles) for the testing. Members of the “Legalize Cannabis” party, David Ettershank and Rachel Payne, hope that the study will lead the regional government to allow all medical cannabis patients to drive, thus ending discrimination against these patients.
Allan commented on the news: “Our state was the first in the country to allow medical cannabis, and now we will be the first in the world to conduct field trials to learn how cannabis use affects driving skills.”
How the Experiment Will Work
The experiment will be conducted by staff from Swinburne University of Technology. They will recruit about 70 people who use medical cannabis and ask them to drive on closed test tracks. Instructors will be present to assess the participants’ driving quality based on the following criteria:
- Maneuvering
- Braking
- Speed control
The testing will begin in September this year and will last for 18 months. If experts determine that medical cannabis users can safely drive, Victoria’s authorities will allow them to do so legally. This would address the current unfairness where medical cannabis patients are penalized for driving, while those using opioids and barbiturates are not.
Potential Safety Measures
According to a meta-analysis of scientific studies, cannabis use impairs driving skills and increases the risk of accidents by 11–42%. The likelihood of being involved in a crash clearly depends on the amount of cannabis consumed. Therefore, it is likely that the authorities will introduce a limit on the concentration of THC in the blood for medical cannabis patients if they are permitted to drive.