The Home Office has produced the specification for a new police station-based drug screening device to test drivers suspected of drug driving.

The device will enable screening of suspects at police stations, removing the need to call out a doctor. If the screening is positive, a blood sample will be taken straight away for evidential testing. This should reduce the waiting time before evidential samples are taken, helping to ensure that any drug levels are recorded before they dissipate.

Ellen Booth, Brake’s campaigns officer, said: “This is definitely a step in the right direction, but we’re not there yet. Provisions to tackle drug driving have been woefully inadequate for too long – other countries are leaps and bounds ahead of us. There still isn’t a law making it an offence to drive on illegal drugs. Without this legislation, the police have to try to prove driver impairment, which is difficult and helps to explain why there are so few convictions. We need a roadside drugs screening device, and high levels of random testing, so that drivers know there is a significant chance of being caught. I sincerely hope this signals the coalition’s intention to act swiftly on drug driving and implement further changes that are desperately needed to stamp out this deadly menace on our roads.”

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