Doctors, FSWS want cannabis driving limits instead of zero tolerance

Roadside drug testing plans should be amended to introduce legal limits for cannabis instead of a zero-tolerance approach, a joint report by the government’s social services provider and two medical associations advises. 

As it stands, the government’s proposed drink-drug driving bill penalises anyone caught with cannabis in their system, irrespective of the amounts detected in the body. 

Cannabis is legal for both recreational and medical use in Malta and several stakeholders, including cannabis regulator ARUC, have argued that this procedure is flawed, as traces of cannabis can be detected in the body even when a driver is not impaired. 

A joint report by the Foundation for Social and Welfare Services, Doctors for Road Safety and the Maltese Association of Psychiatry makes similar recommendations.

It advises the government to follow in the footsteps of other countries where cannabis has been legalised or decriminalised, and introduce a legal limit of 0.6 to 3 nanograms per millilitre of blood. 

However, the report says there should be a zero-tolerance approach to drugs that are outright illegal, such as cocaine. Any presence of these drugs in the system should be considered an offence, the document says.

For cases where a drug could be illegal but also acquired legally via a prescription (e.g. opiates, amphetamines and benzodiazepines), drivers must show that they are not impaired while driving, the document suggests.

The government recently announced its plans to start random roadside testing for drink and drug driving. It also intends to introduce mandatory prison sentences for behind-the-wheel manslaughter if the driver was over the alcohol limit or had drugs in their system.

In comments to Times of Malta last week, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said the published bill does not change existing limits.

Across Europe, cannabis-driving limits vary: the Netherlands permits up to 3 nanograms per millilitre of blood, Belgium, Ireland and Denmark allow up to 1 ng/ml, while France, Italy and Spain completely prohibit driving if there is detectable THC in one’s bloodstream.

Germany has Europe’s most permissive cannabis-driving laws, allowing up to 3.5 ng/ml before a driver is considered impaired.

When they introduced that limit last year, German authorities argued that the permissible limit of cannabis in the bloodstream is the impairment equivalent to 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood (roughly a small beer).