about these new drug tests

thats CUE you idiot

 

Just heard on the news, the first bloke who got done by a roadside drug bus
reckons he was innocent.
I was wondering how long it would take.

The problem is they are supposed to be checking for recent (3 hours) drug
use but this guy claimed to have smoked a month before and is still showing
up positive. Either that or he is lying, who knows.

Now don't get me wrong, I support RBT and reluctantly support this new drug
testing too but it's the thin of the wedge no matter how accurate or
otherwise the proceedure may be.

Let's put aside the actual issue of taking drugs (or booze) and getting
behind the wheel, I believe some drivers stoned off their brain are still
heaps safer and more competent than a totally sober person who simply can't
drive for shit. A factoid my friends and one which will never be stated on
the evening news.

I see it every day as I spend a good 10-12 hours behind the wheel in some of
the worst traffic imaginable. They just can't control a car or they have no
confidence in themselves or their vehicles. Ever wonder why they take
corners in a modern car at walking speed in case it tips over on them?

Bloody frustrating but hey, at least they won't get a ' speeding' fine and
we all know that is the only thing that saves lives. But I digress.

Since we now live in a police state, it's easy to imagine what can come next
from these newfound powers of stop and spittle.

If you get done for DUI (booze) it's a crim record, big deal. So many people
of all walks of life have been done for drink drive it's now acceptable and
life moves on. Nobody stopped employing B... N..... because he got caught.
Nobody cares.

" DRINK DRIVING, ITS NOT BAD LUCK ITS A CRIME"

yes but it doesn't do much except stuff up your insurance.

Now, getting caught for DUI (drugz) will also incur a fine, some points and
a mark on your driving record.
What happens when a person is required to produce their licence record for a
driving job?
Having heaps of traffic offences is bad enough (my driving record is only
available on CD, too many pages) but if a drug driving offence shows up it
will instantly flag you as a drug user to the prospective employer.

" NEXT APPLICANT PLEEZE"

Now if employers can ask for this document on the pretext of maybe letting
you drive a company car once in a while, it all starts to turn ugly.
We are then in the same situation as the USSA with drug testing for a job.

They look at your driving record, see a DUI offence and if it's the socially
unacceptable DUI (drugs) then they have the perfect reason to pass you over
on the basis that you are a drug user.

All because you enjoy a puff and got detected with it on your tongue during
an undignified roadside medical proceedure.

Same for speed users, sure it's illegal but if it keeps a truckie awake and
on the road (instead of running off and causing carnage) than so be it.

I haven't even touched on the DNA implications of all this, scary times
ahead I feel.

For the record I have driven in various states of sobriety and have been a
professional driver all my working life so I think I may be close to
understanding the subject.

All too depressing, I'm off to pack the teapot with some Tetleys.....

 

Although he admitted to smoking marijuana a month before, the test has come
up positive for methamphetamine and only the 2nd test conducted in the van
came up positive for marijuana substances. Hence the guys strenous denials I
guess. They didn't specify if the 2nd test came up positive for both
substances or just the marijuana.

He's got a 2 week wait to find out. Either way his face has been plastered
over the news numerous times as a possible methamphetamine and admitted
marijuana user.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/Natio...etected-in-test/2004/12/15/1102787144945.html

http://snipurl.com/be85

 

The bit I can't understand is that marijuana use is legal in South
Australia (correct me if I'm wrong) which is what, 5 hours away?
There's no stipulation at the border that prohibits the entry of persons
who have used marijuana so unless the driver is actually impaired I can't
see how prior marijuana use can be a factor in anything!
--
Clem

(snip)

 

Its about time we made them there southerners show a passport at the border,
this is an ideal opportunity.

Boxer

(Conehead this is your que to rant and rave)

 

There are no instructions at the border on how to negotiate a hook turn in the
Melbourne CBD either.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

They're measuring metabolic leftovers in your spit -- I mean,
how much more 'personal use' can you get?

-----sharks

 

But the offensive hook-turn would be committed in Victoria (i.e. under
their jurisdiction)
Is the offence here "driving while impaired", "ingesting an illicit
substance or "having traces of an illicit substance in your bloodstream".
If it's "impaired" then fair enough (but I don't understand how they can
differentiate between recent use which could impair and older use which
couldn't. And wouldn't a walk-the-white-line impairment test be more
effective?)
If it's ingesting/using then if you didn't use in their jurisdiction it's
no business of theirs,
and if it's "having traces" then I don't understand it at all! (I'm sure
it's perfectly legal to go to Amsterdam or 100 miles off shore and shoot up
heroin and then return to Australia with it in your system. Ditto
somewhere where hooch is legal (Haiti?).)
Knob.

 

Qué

 

Yes, it may well be legal to have ingested drugs in your body when you return
but it's not legal to drive in that condition apparently. Much the same I
imagine as the old days when the BAC here was 0.05 and 0.08 in other states.
Didn't matter if you were within the NSW limit at 0.07, as soon as you cross
the border you have to abide by Victorian law so an offence would be
committed.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

On the side of the road:

"Watch this 'Ren and Stimpy' cartoon sir ..."
"Now, can you explain exactly what is so funny about the walrus?"

At the Mobile Test Facility:

"Please eat the smallest possible number of these barbeque shapes."
"Yes, you can lick the leftover bits out of the bag, but it may
be taken down and used in court against you."

----sharks (booze bus to never-never land ...)

 

Que ?

JL