South Australia (SA) Police will start testing drivers for cocaine during roadside random drug checks.
It comes after recent wastewater monitoring showed national cocaine use has reached record-high levels.
SA Police launched random drug testing (RDT) in 2006 to test drivers for cannabis, MDMA, and methamphetamine.
RDT will be expanded to screen for cocaine from early 2025. A specific start date isn’t known.
Here’s how it’ll work.
Penalties
Drivers caught under the influence of illicit drugs by SA police face $951 in fines, a suspended license for at least three months, and four demerit points.
The State Government says the decision to scan for cocaine in the RDT screening builds on reforms to “strip dangerous motorists of their license” and ”help save lives.”
“This sends an even clearer message to those who choose to use drugs and put others at risk behind the wheel,” Acting Police Minister Susan Close said.
Drugs and driving
In 2023, SA recorded 31 road deaths and 112 serious road injuries in incidents involving drugs.
From 2018 to 2023, cocaine use was detected in crashes that caused nine deaths.
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens says the number of deaths is “unacceptable”.
“We’re hoping people stop and think about their road user behaviour to make sure they take responsibility for a very important task… if you’re not prepared to do that, get off our roads.”
Cocaine Uses
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, cocaine is the second most commonly used illicit drug in Australia after cannabis.
In 2022/23, cocaine use in Australia was three and a half times higher than 2001 rates, with almost 5% percent of people over 14 reporting they’d used the substance in the last 12 months.
In South Australia, cocaine is similarly reported to be the second most used illicit substance.
