Roadside drug testing: The magic 12-hour rule

February 2016 – Source The Northern Star

Defence lawyer Steve Bolt used Tuesday’s forum [in Lismore NSW] to spell out a line of defence to cannabis users. He offered the audience the advice they should visit the NSW Government’s Centre For Road Safety‘s web page, Drugs and Driving, and read the section that states ‘cannabis can typically be detected in saliva by an MDT test stick for up to 12 hours after use’. They added the word ‘typically’ the day after the Police v Joseph Carrall case in Lismore this month,” he said. “If you therefore wait at least 12 hours after using cannabis you can reasonably expect it will not be detected, according to advice provided by the NSW Government. A precedent has been set which could allow you to test this in court. The onus is on the prosecution to prove otherwise.” But, he said, there was no guaranteed outcome as ultimately it was up to the magistrate.