A “world-first” trial to assess the impact of medical cannabis on driving ability won’t be finished until late 2025, leading to accusations the Victorian government has delayed addressing an issue once deemed by Daniel Andrews as a priority.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, on Tuesday, announced that Swinburne University of Technology had been selected to run the trial.
She said the $4.9m trial, to be completed over 18 months , will review about 70 medicinal cannabis users’ ability to manage distractions and assess their performance behind the wheel, including steering, braking and speed control on a dedicated track.
“Just as we were the first state in the nation to introduce medicinal cannabis to support people with their medical illnesses, we are now moving to have this world-first trial to support and examine how it affects people as they’re out on this closed circuit driving track,” Allan told reporters at a driver-training centre in Melbourne’s outer east.
While Victoria in 2016 became the first state to approve the use of medicinal cannabis, it remains an offence for a person to drive with any trace of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis, in their system.
THC can be detected in the body for weeks after consumption, meaning medicinal cannabis users can risk losing their licence or being fined each time they drive to work or drop their children off at school.
In February 2023, Andrews, the then state premier, said finding a solution to the issue was a priority for his government. He suggested there were as many as 200,000 medicinal cannabis users in Victoria who were restricted from driving.
“[It’s] an issue that’s bedevilled us. We need to find a way through,” he had said.
Legalise Cannabis MPs David Ettershank and Rachel Payne said they were disappointed in the timeline, having previously been guaranteed the issue would be resolved by the end of this year.
“Jacinta Allan may be on a driving track today but I know she is intentionally ‘stalling’ on this decision,” Payne said.
“In 2023, Dan Andrews promised an answer ‘in coming months’ followed by a guarantee to have it fixed by 2024. Now, with a new premier, it’s mid-2026 at best.”
Ettershank said Allan was “playing politics” and “discriminating” against medicinal cannabis users, given no tests applied other medications such as barbiturates or opioids.
The MPs urged the government to follow Tasmania’s lead and provide a medical defence for driving with THC.
The roads minister, Melissa Horne, said Tasmania had far fewer medicinal cannabis users than Victoria, and denied there had been a delay.
She said funding needed to be allocated and legislation passed to allow the trial to begin, as well as a tender process to select the researchers.
She said unlike alcohol intoxication, which can be determined via a breath test or blood alcohol reading, “nowhere in the world” had developed a way to measure cannabis-related impairment.
“At the heart of it, it is a basic human rights issue where we’ve got people out there who are taking a legally prescribed substance who cannot drive at the moment,” she said.
A study by Swinburne researchers published in February of 40 medicinal cannabis users found “negligible impact on driving performance”.
Meanwhile, a Victorian inquiry into workplace drug testing heard that the head of the Police Association, Wayne Gatt, was supportive of an “nuanced” response to medicinal cannabis use.
“Even in industries … where there are strong safety concerns that would require workplaces to be free of drugs and alcohol, an empathetic response having regard for the irrefutable medical evidence that supports the growing use of medicinal cannabis … is required,” Gatt said.
The WorkSafe chief executive, Joe Calafiore, said he would review the watchdog’s guide to employees for developing an alcohol and other drugs policy, which had not been updated since 2017.
