Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014

Lord Popat Excerpts

Thursday 24th July 2014 Grand Committee

Moved by

[Lord Popat]

That the Grand Committee do consider the Drug Driving (Specified Limits) (England and Wales) Regulations 2014.

Relevant document: 6th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments

[Lord Popat (Con)]

My Lords, I beg to move this Motion standing in the name of my noble friend Lady Kramer on the Order Paper. The draft regulations are being made to specify the drugs and the limits over which it will be an offence to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle in England and Wales. As noble Lords are aware, the review of drink and drug-driving law by Sir Peter North concluded that there was a large drug-driving problem and recommended this new offence. Drivers impaired by drugs kill large numbers of people: there could be as many as 200 drug- driving related deaths a year in the United Kingdom. Figures show that a drug-driver has one-fiftieth of the chance of being prosecuted compared to a drink-driver and yet European evidence suggests that drug-driving is about half as prevalent as drink-driving—so enforcement related to drugs is disproportionately low. These regulations will thus enable more effective law enforcement.

The drugs included in the draft regulations have been recommended by the expert panel in its report, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, as being the drugs that pose the greatest road safety risk. The Government have additionally included LSD, as while the expert panel stated that,

“LSD usage in the UK driving population is unknown”,

it also stated:

“The use of LSD is not likely to be compatible with the skills required for driving”.

The Government consider that even if there are just a small number of cases, it is worth including LSD as the police would then have the powers to progress these cases.

The Government have also taken note of noble Lords’ concerns about the potential impact on patients in previous debates during the passage of the Crime and Courts Bill, which introduced a new offence by breaking down morphine into a subdivision of its metabolic marker, which is called 6-MAM. This will separate heroin users from those taking opiate-based medication. However, we have not included the expert panel’s recommendation on amphetamine. We intend to do that at a later date but, first, we aim to reconsult later this year on a limit for amphetamine. I apologise that I could not pronounce that medical word. I am not a doctor by profession and I have taken on this order at very short notice. We accept that there is significant medical use and that having a low limit might discourage ADHD patients, in particular, from taking their medication. Evidence came to light during the consultation of a large study, published on the day before the consultation closed, showing that unmedicated ADHD patients represent a road safety risk. I believe that this demonstrates to noble Lords that the Government have been listening to the medical profession and want to ensure that all patients continue to take their medication and to drive, providing that they are not impaired.

The Government have also included in the draft regulations the road safety risk-based limits, as recommended by the expert panel, for those drugs most associated with medical uses. In most cases, this will be above the normal therapeutic ranges, so patients would not provide a positive result if any blood test was taken. The Government recognise that there may be some patients who have built up tolerances to higher doses, and who could be above the specified limits and be safe to drive. There is a medical defence available to those drivers and we want to ensure that they are dealt with swiftly at the roadside to reduce any inconvenience to them.

This is why the Government published guidance to healthcare professionals on the new drug-driving offence earlier this month, which includes an explanation of how to raise a medical defence early on in any dealings with the police in relation to driving. If the police view is that they are impaired for driving, the existing Section 4 offence will apply. The guidance has been widely circulated to medical bodies and patient support groups, and we are confident that it will reach those providing the advice and, ultimately, their patients. However, we will be monitoring the new offence, and bodies such as the British Pain Society and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have agreed to assist us and report directly to our researcher if any negative impacts emerge.

Finally, rather than setting limits for eight illegal drugs at the expert panel’s recommended limits where a road safety risk applies, the Government have proposed a zero-tolerance approach as they believe that it would be unacceptable to the wider public to set limits where it is okay to take a certain amount of illegal drugs and drive. Zero tolerance does not mean zero limits, as we do not want to provide an opportunity to any defence lawyer stating that their client was exposed to others’ use of a drug, such as by passive inhalation. That is why I am proposing to the Committee limits for these eight illegal drugs as above “accidental exposure”. These limits have been provided by an expert advisory group, which includes some of the members of the expert panel, such as Dr Kim Wolff, to whom I am most grateful for her hard work on the matter. Those drugs and their limits have been supported in a public consultation, and I believe that we are taking a balanced and pragmatic approach.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Popat]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord for his questions and I shall try to cover as many of them as I can. Failing that, I will be very happy to write to him.

This is something new for us. It is no different from what happened when we introduced legislation on driving with excess alcohol in 1967. The legislation will take some time to mature, but I am sure that these regulations are a good place to start. Drink-driving is dangerous and so is drug-driving.

Let me start with the question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, on how we detect when somebody has taken drugs. The police will test first for alcohol and they will know the extent of the alcohol taken by the driver. If he comes out positive on the excess alcohol test, the chance is that a similar test will occur to determine if he has taken drugs. If there is no screening device to test the driver, if the police suspect that he has taken drugs, he will be taken to the police station for a blood test. Only the police can arrest and charge him for driving under the influence of drugs. Another question raised by the noble Lords, Lord Berkeley and Lord Whitty, was about what would happen if someone is under the limit but has mixed their drugs. If impairment exists, Section 4 can be used to arrest the driver.

The noble Lord, Lord Whitty, asked: why not address alcohol and drug limits? That is an important question. Drugs are much more complex than alcohol in many ways. It is very difficult to ask the police to deal with a new, complex drug-driving offence and any changes to the alcohol limit. The police need to focus on the new offence of drug-driving first. This is very much in the initial stage, given the time that the police will need for the necessary training in how to detect people and what action to take when they find somebody under the influence of drugs under the new legislation. The Government asked the expert panel for advice on risk-based limits and the evidence was that the police will more or less be able to detect that a person is under the influence of drugs more easily by just looking at his body language and his face. Often, his eyes will be red. With alcohol, there is an ability to test whether the driver is under the influence of alcohol.

The noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, raised the issue of zero tolerance. The Government have a zero-tolerance approach to illegal drug use. Considering the panel’s recommendation, it is clear that the zero-tolerance approach in the new drug driving offence will send the strongest possible message that you cannot take illegal drugs and drive. The Government made it very clear in their consultation that the zero-tolerance approach does not mean zero limits, as we need to rule out any exposure, for example, through passive smoking.

Judging from the impact assessment, there is a great potential to reduce drug taking in the first place. We provide some examples of where it may arise. It is extremely difficult to monetise something when we cannot be sure of the causal link. It is not possible to disentangle the two effects. It would not be right for the department to take the credit and attempt to monetise it. Will this policy actually happen? A number of pieces of equipment will be tested by the Centre for Applied Science and Technology at the Home Office. We expect these to be approved in time for the commencement of the new offence.

I say to the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, that we responded to drink-driving, and we consider that the drug-driving offence must be proportionate to any serious risk to road safety. Drug takers can be as dangerous as drinkers. The most important thing is to make sure that the roads are safe for the people who use them.

I guess that I have covered not all but some of the points raised. Noble Lords will, I hope, forgive me, as I came to these regulations at very short notice, but I shall be very happy to write to noble Lords. I will go through Hansard, speak to the department and make sure that I responded properly on this subject. It is not an area in which I specialise, so noble Lords will have to forgive me for that.

We owe it to the victims of drug-drivers, such as the schoolgirl Lillian Groves, whose family have campaigned tirelessly for this new offence following the death of their daughter through drug-driving in 2010. I hope that this instrument will make a difference to the number of accidents that take place; an estimated 200 deaths a year are due to drug-driving.

Motion agreed.