{"id":59277,"date":"2026-07-27T08:30:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T08:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/59277\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T08:30:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T08:30:27","slug":"concerns-raised-over-changes-to-drink-and-drug-driving-laws-in-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/59277\/","title":{"rendered":"Concerns raised over changes to drink and drug driving laws in Queensland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australia’s leading alcohol and other drug prevention organisation has raised concerns over the Queensland government’s proposed “zero-tolerance” drink and drug driving laws.<\/p>\n

The legislation would increase the maximum penalty for drivers with a drug present in their blood or saliva and would also double penalties for drink and drug drivers, along with tougher consequences for other offences from December.<\/p>\n

Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s (ADF) state manager Martin Milne warned the changes would negatively impact people using legal medicinal cannabis prescriptions.<\/p>\n

“They face fines, losing their licence and aggravated penalties, simply for taking their medication as directed,” Mr Milne said in his submission on the bill.<\/p>\n

The state government said the changes, announced last month,<\/a> were an evidence-based response to rising road trauma and had been informed by experts, crash data, and enforcement trends.<\/p>\n

Last month, Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the laws aimed to send a message that there would be serious consequences for dangerous driving.<\/p>\n

\"Brent<\/p>\n

Brent Mickelberg\u00a0said the state would take a zero-tolerance approach to drug driving. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

He said the “simple fact” was that it was “not safe to drive” while affected by tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC.<\/p>\n

“More than 60 per cent of drug driving fatalities had THC in their system,” Mr Mickelberg said in June.<\/p>\n

Detectable for up to three days<\/p>\n

Mr Milne said current roadside drug testing was limited to detecting the presence of THC in saliva and didn’t measure impairment.<\/p>\n

“THC can remain detectable in saliva for up to three days after use,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Under the proposed laws, a person may be penalised despite the psychoactive effects of the drug (and any impairment of driving ability) long having worn off.”<\/p>\n

Queensland reforms drink and drug driving laws<\/a><\/p>\n

The Crisafulli government has announced a crackdown on dangerous driving while doubling down on a “zero-tolerance” approach to drug driving, including for medical cannabis users. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Mr Milne said Queensland had one of the largest populations of medicinal cannabis patient populations in Australia.<\/p>\n

“Data from the Therapeutic Goods Administration shows Queensland has the highest number of prescribers operating under the Special Access Scheme,” Mr Milne said.<\/p>\n

He added the state could maintain a strong commitment to road safety while still ensuring people who use prescribed medicinal cannabis are not unfairly penalised.<\/p>\n

He recommended the state government investigate approaches for assessing cannabis-related impairment, including THC in saliva thresholds and enhanced field sobriety testing.<\/p>\n

“As access continues to grow, it is important that road safety laws distinguish between drivers who present a genuine safety risk and those who are using a prescribed medicine responsibly and are not impaired,” Mr Milne said.<\/p>\n

‘Too much bloodshed and carnage’<\/p>\n

RACQ general manager for advocacy Joshua Cooney said whether the substance is illicit or prescribed, it couldn’t support impaired driving.<\/p>\n

“There’s too much bloodshed and carnage that’s taking place on our roads,” Mr Cooney told a parliamentary committee on Monday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joshua Cooney told the committee a measure that increased the risk of impaired driving could not be supported. (ABC News: Will Murray)<\/p>\n

Mr Cooney said there were about 70 drug-related deaths on Queensland’s roads last year.<\/p>\n

“In most of those cases, it’s involved cannabis,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We can’t support any measure that may increase the risk of impaired driving.”<\/p>\n

He said he supported further research between detectable THC and impaired driving, before a line was to be established and enforced.<\/p>\n

“We don’t have it yet,” Mr Cooney said.<\/p>\n

Mr Cooney said RACQ supported the bill’s combination of stronger consequences, intervention and behaviour change measures.<\/p>\n

“Queensland is in a road safety crisis,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re not here to stand against the use of medicinal cannabis. We’re here to advocate for improved road safety,” he said.<\/p>\n

‘Serious concerns’ over rationale<\/p>\n

The bill would also introduce minimum court-imposed fines for drink and drug driving offences aimed at ensuring penalties match the seriousness of the offences.<\/p>\n

Under current laws, courts have the discretion to determine the fine’s amount, provided it did not exceed the maximum.<\/p>\n

Queensland motorcycle deaths on the rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Police say Queensland is on track for yet another record year of fatal motorcycle crashes.<\/p>\n

The bill explained that if a court could impose a lower penalty than an infringement notice, two people who commit the same offence could receive different outcomes depending on how their matter is resolved.<\/p>\n

Queensland Law Society’s president Peter Jolly said he had “serious concerns” about the underlying rationale and the practical implications for fair justice.<\/p>\n

In the society’s submission on the bill, Mr Jolly said the premise that two people who commit the same offence should receive the same fine was incorrect.<\/p>\n

“One may be a first-time offender in genuine financial hardship with a strong prospect of rehabilitation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Another may be a recidivist offender with no mitigating circumstances.”<\/p>\n

The society said it supported the overall bill’s overarching aim of improving road safety outcomes.<\/p>\n

The committee’s members will consider feedback on the bill before it is debated in state parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia’s leading alcohol and other drug prevention organisation has raised concerns over the Queensland government’s proposed “zero-tolerance” drink…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64921,22,21,214,22537,31920,64920,33034,64919,64922,3227,22538],"class_list":["post-59277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-alcohol-and-drug-foundation","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-brent-mickelberg","tag-cannabis","tag-drug-driving","tag-josh-cooney","tag-medicinal-cannabis","tag-michael-milne","tag-proposed-laws","tag-queensland-government","tag-thc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}