A survivor of abuse in state care is concerned that new drugs that drive drugs mean that it could be prohibited from taking the steering wheel due to the use of medicinal cannabis.
The Wancargill man, Toni Jarvis, said he uses prescribed products to facilitate his PTO (posttraumatic stress disorder), which stems from his abuse, and now he feels that the state is behind him again.
The new law was passed last week, supported by parties and the work of government coalitions.
Entering in force on April 1 of next year, it allows the police to take random tests on the road. If a driver has two positive screening tests, it will be forbidden to stay behind the wheel for 12 hours. It is said that this addresses immediate safety concerns.
Drivers who return a positive result will have their saliva sample sent to a laboratory and, if this finds certain medications present, they can be fined or emit demerit points.
Medical use is a defense of this, but only once a noted offense is received and not the 12 -hour ban, which made Jarvis worried.
A few weeks of receiving a service medal from the king for his struggle for justice from state abuse, he is one of about 100,000 medical cannabis prescription users that can be caught by the new law.
The medicinal cannabis has been cool in New Zealand for about seven years and, in the last four, Jarvis used prescribed products, as other medications were not working for him, leaving -the grog.
“I use it every day to sleep at night. The reason I do is for over 30 years that I used to wake up with nightmares, terror, panic, anxiety at extreme levels, sweating and panting for air, waking up for dreams [of me] Like a 9 -year -old boy in Cherry Farm Asylum. “
There, along with other institutions, he was abused.
“With the medicinal cannabis, I take it at night. I sleep. I don’t wake up anymore. It’s a gift from God for my mental health.
“I’m not waking up with those adult patients doing what they did with a 9 year old boy, so I have a better quality of life. I’m resting. I’m sleeping.”
Since he heard about the change of law, his anxiety returned when Jarvis was not sure where he and other medical users of cannabis were.
“If I get over and that come out, what this does with my integrity as a King’s service medal [recipient] What did I do for 50 years? Does this head my image? People say, ‘Oh, is he just a weed head?’ I don’t need it. I am a patient. “
Jarvis said his medication came with a warning not to drive six hours after use, and that’s what he did – just like Alexandra, Corey Potter.
He uses cannabis products to help manage his symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
“When I test positive, what happens then? I know I’m not harmed and I know I can drive my car. If I was harmed by my medication, I wouldn’t be driving, just like any other medicine you get for your doctors.
“I don’t understand why they are doing medicinal cannabis so different from all other medicines.”
A 12 -hour driving summary would have a great effect on family life, as he could not transport his daughter, he said.
“I’m mobile, but not much, very mobile. I can walk 1000m and I’m very broken later. That would limit me a lot to what I could go and what I could get.”
Cannabis traces can be detected in the system several days after consumed.
But Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the new regime aimed at recent, non -historical, drug use and road screening, detecting concentration levels showing recent use.
“Similarly, laboratory tests will return only positive results, where the level of concentration of detected drugs is above a limit that indicates recent use of drugs.”
Police said that in 2021, 93 people were killed in accidents where a driver was found to have drugs in his system – a third of all deaths.
New Zealand’s Medicinal Cannabis Executive Director Sally King said the intention of the change was right, because no one should drive while harming.
But she said she ignored the evidence about the effect of cannabis while driving and was a bad law.
“It does not address considerable uncertainty about the levels of impairment when using cannabis -derived medications.
“Saliva test is a test for evidence of use. It is not a commitment test. In the case of many marijuana -derived medications, you can still see evidence of use much after impairment.”
Like the 100,000 New Zealand that took cannabis prescribed medicines, another 200,000 were considered to use it for medical reasons, she said.
The government said it would perform about 50,000 road tests a year.
NZ Drug Foundation Chief Executive Sarah Helm said the medicinal marijuana was prescribed to treat a number of problems such as chronic pain, insomnia, inflammatory conditions and anxiety.
“More than 70% of the medicinal cannabis provided last year contained THC, which could result in a positive result in a road saliva test – even up to three days after use for some people.”
A policeman of the police said police officers would start testing their “new execution tool” in December before next year’s launch.
“Police are already conducting driver tests harmed for alcohol and drugs. The additional addition of drug driver tests on the edge of our existing practices is to ensure that we have the tools to deter and detect drivers who are more than driving insecure.
“Operational discussions remain in progress in relation to medical defense. However, if a person is prescribed medicinal marijuana and has a current and valid revenue and take their medicine as prescribed, they are unlikely to have violated new drug driving provisions.”
