Roadside drug testing is about to begin in the Wellington region according to NZ Police.
The amendment to the Land Transport Act passed in March this year, supported by all parties with the exception of the Greens and Te Pati Maori, allows Police to randomly drug test drivers.
The roadside kit will swab the driver and detect the presence of four drugs: THC (cannabis), MDMA, methamphetamine and cocaine. The Act specifically allows for the testing of 25 particular drugs and respective thresholds:
www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2022/0005/latest/LMS378964.html
A positive roadside test result for any of the four will result in an instant 12-hour stand-down for the driver. The sample will then be sent for lab analysis and screen for anything in the full list of 25. A positive lab result will of course mean infringement notices and/or further consequences. A refusal to test will also result in an infringement notice.
Experts have weighed in on this issue on all sides, but with the law in place it will now be enforced. Official statistics show drug use being represented in approximately a third of all fatal traffic accidents in New Zealand but bearing in mind this doesn't necessarily prove people were impaired in this statistic so there remains huge controversy around the impairment and fairness issue. Whether or not a particular driver is actually impaired by a drug is not as tightly linked to a test reading in the same ways as alcohol is. Further, some drugs can stay detectable in a user's system far longer than any question of impairment would remain.
There is then the issue of those legitimately prescribed THC falling foul of a roadside test. There is scope in the Act allowing for a legitimate "medical defence" whereby if a driver can prove they were taking the medication in line with the prescription as given they may avoid fines and infringement issues. This however will not work for the instant 12-hour stand-down. So it may be seen that someone prescribed medicinal cannabis being given a 12-hour stand-down for failing a roadside test days after taking the prescription, thus presenting attendance issues at work arguably through no fault of their own.
With Police looking to undertake 50,000 tests per year and the prevalence of illicit and prescribed drug use in New Zealand, the knock-on effect of 12-hour stand-downs is bound to affect businesses with some workers struggling to attend work on time or at all, being able to effectively complete their role for at least the stand-down period, plus the risk they might present to the business operation potentially being under the influence of drugs particularly if they work in a safety-sensitive role.
For the employer, at this stage the best advice is to ensure you have a relevant and workable drug and alcohol policy in place at the workplace. Ensure staff are aware and familiar with this. Any disciplinary matter should always be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with all relevant matters and context taken into consideration. You cannot approach a potential disciplinary matter in a cookie-cutter approach.
It is also prudent to know in advance if your staff are prescribed medication which potentially adversely affects the performance or safety of their role. If you use our Employment Agreement templates you probably already have this clause included as an employee obligation.
All of the above are included in your
Employers Toolbox account, links for non-members are below if required:
Drug and Alcohol Policy
Employment Contracts