A suggested law change has called for the ACT to distinguish between presence and impairment when it comes to medicinal cannabis users on the road.
ACT Greens Yerrabi MLA Andrew Braddock introduced the Road Transport (Alcohol and Drugs) Amendment Bill 2026, calling for medicinal cannabis users to be treated under the same legal framework as people prescribed other potentially impairing medications.
“There is a double standard at work here,” he said.
“The purpose of this bill is not to create an exemption for medicinal cannabis users [who are driving], it is to remove the discriminatory treatment they currently face.”
Under the current law, a person prescribed opioids or benzodiazepines (drugs that can cause driving impairment) only faces prosecution if impairment is proven.
But people using medicinal cannabis can be punished if delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is detected by roadside drug testing.
“The roadside drug test does not measure impairment; it measures presence,” Mr Braddock said.
“These are not the same thing.”
The suggested change would establish a statutory defence for medicinal cannabis users who return a positive roadside drug test.
Mr Braddock argued the current law wasn’t supported by academic medical research into driving impairment arising from THC and was derived from the historical status of cannabis as a prohibited drug.
“The ACT’s current laws simply don’t stack up. Right now, a person can follow their doctor’s advice, take prescribed medicinal cannabis, and still be treated like a criminal, even when they are not impaired and don’t pose a danger to themselves or others,” he said.
“They are not being punished for dangerous driving, but for the presence of a trace amount of a legally prescribed medicine that does not impair driving. Meanwhile, patients taking opioids or benzodiazepines face no equivalent test. That double standard has no scientific basis, and it must change.
“This reform reflects what the evidence tells us: impairment, not mere presence, should be the standard for road safety. Our laws should be based on evidence, not outdated assumptions.”
A defence for lawful medicinal cannabis users is available in Tasmania.
Victoria changed its law to allow magistrates the discretion not to cancel someone’s licence where the only substance detected is a prescribed medicinal cannabis product used as directed. But the criminal charge, fine and criminal record remain.
NSW announced legislation earlier this month to establish a registration-based system with three-strike warnings, with penalties applying on the third detection within two years.
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