r/MedicalCannabisNZ: Prescribed cannabis & driving

Outside of the ongoing Police sagas in the media, it’s pretty clear they don’t know how to make good decisions. And the more I read about how screwed we are on drug driving, the whole "medical defence" setup is just another example of a system that looks fair on paper, but quietly forces people into a corner here as always.

On paper it says you’re protected if you have a "current and valid prescription". In reality, nobody will give a straight answer on what "current" or "valid" actually means in this context. If you look at how the justice system works everywhere else, it’s basically binary, it either is current, or it isn’t. And if it isn’t current at the time you used the drug, you’re toast. And going back to a clinic after the fact to get a new script isn’t going to magically become a "current and valid prescription" for the THC that was already in your system when they tested you.

So I think that quietly forces us prescribed patients into a really stupid position:

• If we stop using our medication but it’s still clearing from our system, the safest thing legally is to keep paying to maintain a current script until our bodies have finished washing it out.
• If you let the script lapse, cost, access, or you just don’t want to keep taking it anymore, any residual THC in your saliva is now treated exactly the same as someone self medicating with no script at all.

So the state has essentially built a system where your only shield is staying inside an ongoing, paid prescribing relationship. Great for private clinics, Terrible for us patients, especially anyone on low income or outside the private clinic bubbles we have.

With a clinic even stating in their email to their patients: "We’ve seen a huge surge in returning patients and new patients since the roadside testing announcement. The law has unintentionally pushed more people toward proper medical care instead of the black market".

Then layering on top of that how blunt the roadside testing is. As we know, these oral fluid tests don’t prove impairment, they just prove presence, at the 5 ng/ml level. You can be driving normally, legally, and safely, get pulled over purely at random, swabbed, and fail. All because you’ve still got leftover THC from lawful use days to weeks ago. No bad driving, no crash, just a stupid chemistry test. Which in Australia, already has lead to false positive meth tests, leading to a person loosing their license. Clearly they aren't fit for purpose.

And it’s not even cheap theatre for the current government who are all about saving money either! The DrugWipe kits from looking online, are around $50 to $60 NZD each, and they’re talking about doing 50,000 a year. That’s millions of dollars on a system that:

• doesn’t actually measure impairment as we know,
• structurally punishes anyone whose prescription isn’t perfectly "current",
• makes no accommodation for washout periods or the reality of how controlled drugs behave in the body
• and treats the NZ taxpayers as a bottomless ATM to fund the most stupid ineffective things that create way more harm, than any provable good for society.

If they were only using this on clearly impaired drivers, post crash, obvious dangerous driving etc, that would at least make some sense here. But yanking over people who are driving legally, running two $50 to $60 presence tests on them, then paying an undisclosed amount for Police to move saliva samples back to Police stations, book them in, hand them over to medical couriers, and ship them off to ESR in Wellington for HPLC analysis… all so they can finally say to a prescribed patient, "sorry, your script wasn’t current enough at that exact moment"…

And quite frankly by the time you add up two roadside tests, the transport and handling, and the lab work, you’re easily in the ballpark of $200+ per driver tested. Someone should OIA them for this! With that before counting the officer’s time standing on the roadside for 10-30 minutes. That’s real money! And instead of spending it on things that actually improve health, like better, more nutritious food in schools. We’re pouring it into a system that doesn’t measure impairment, hits prescribed patients purely on technicalities, and will just further clog up the courts with bureaucracy.

50,000 tests * $200 = $10,000,000. . . Vs them spending $5.56 to $8.62 per lunch for mouldy slop, that will give children food poisoning.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/580553/parents-horrified-children-ate-mouldy-mince-in-government-funded-school-lunches

And from reading on this subreddit, and from other subreddits. A lot of patients are already talking about "just refusing to provide a saliva sample". But that’s risky! As refusing a saliva test can trigger Police to switch over to their other powers, compulsory impairment testing and blood, where you’re suddenly in the territory of criminal charges and fines up to $4,500, not just a simple ticket thats easier to dispute.

The safest recommendation for prescribed patients right now is pretty boring, and very admin heavy sadly:

• Watch your script end dates like a hawk. Try to avoid any gap where you’re still got THC in your system but no "current and valid" prescription on paper to share.
• If you can’t get an appointment in time, at least have evidence that you’ve booked a consult and you’re actively trying to keep your script current. Intent isn’t written into the Acts, but it’s the sort of thing we can only hope will matter if this ever ends up in front of someone with discretion to make.

If you do get stopped:

• Don’t refuse the saliva test, that’s just the doorway to blood and the really nasty penalties.
• Have a printed copy of your current script with you, (some pharmacies ship this with your orders).
• Stick a label from your current, (even if empty) box/bag/pottle to that printout, so it’s crystal clear which kind of products, and dose you’re on, and how you’re meant to take it. As the clinical wording on scripts is hard for Police to follow.
• Keep a copy of the manufacturer’s CMI / patient info leaflet that shows the recommended stand down period after dosing also.

Adding none of this guarantees you won’t get an infringement, you will because the system is fundamentally flawed. But if they are going to test you, you want to make it as easy as possible to show: I have a current prescription, I’ve followed the instructions, I’m not impaired, and I’m doing everything reasonably expected of me as a patient.

Land Transport Act 1998, Section 64 Defences: https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1998/0110/latest/DLM434814.html

NZ Police Medical defence:
https://www.police.govt.nz/advice-services/infringement-services/medical-defence

NZ Police Part 14 Medicinal cannabis:
https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/drugs-part-14-medicinal-cannabis-redacted-031125.pdf

NZ Drug Foundation further info:
https://drugfoundation.org.nz/news-and-reports/roadside-drug-testing-what-you-need-to-know