December 6, 2025 • 10 mins
In just over a week, roadside drug testing of drivers will begin in Wellington, with the aim to roll it out nationwide by mid-2026.
So how will it work? And how reliable will this testing be?
Hayden Eastmond-Mein from the Drug Foundation joined Francesca Rudkin to guide her through what the tests involve and why they've still got concerns about the approach.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So in just over a week, roadside drug testing of
drivers will begin in Wellington. The aim is to then
roll it out nationwide by mid twenty twenty six. So
how will it work and how reliable will this testing be?
Hayden Eastern Maine from the Drug Foundation joins me now
to talk us through it. Hi, Hayden, how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good morning, Francisca, Yeah, really good, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Are you supportive of this move?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Well, we're definitely supportive of not having impaired drivers on
the road and it definitely is a big problem. But
right the way through this process to the current point
of almost going live, we've had concerns about this approach.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Okay, let's start with what the tests involved. Maybe can
you talk me through that?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah? Sure.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
So there's two components. There's a road side screening test
and then a lab test. So the roadside screening tests,
they'll be done randomly by by police, similar to.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Breathalyzer tests for alcohol. At the moment, and this.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Is there's a there's a small device called a drug
wipe where they will take a little tongue scrape, which
doesn't sound very pleasant, but apparently it's It's pretty quick.
And the first test is screening for just four drugs,
So it's screening for th HC, which is one of
the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, and m D
(01:47):
m A, And so if you don't if you don't
test positive for any of those and that first test,
then you'll be on your way. If you do test positive,
you will be asked to provide a saliva sample that
will be sent off to the lab, but you'll also
(02:07):
be asked to do a second roadside screening test, and
if that also tests positive, you'll be barred from driving
for twelve hours. And then in the meantime, that sample
that was sent off to the lab that gets tested
against actually a much larger list of twenty five different substances.
Lots of medicines are in there as well, not just
illicit drugs, and if you are found to have those
(02:32):
in your system, then you can have an infringement notice,
which comes with a fine and demeror points.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hayden, that second test that they do on the roadside
is that the same test that they did the first
time around. It's just a double checking.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
No, they use different equipment.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So yeah, the roadside test is very much like a
handheld device that's meant to be used in the field,
and so that's quite a specific test with actually higher thresholds.
So and then the lab test is done with different
equipment that's more precise and it's got kind of lower
thresholds and it's a really long list of substances. So
(03:08):
there's kind of your benzodiazepine medicine so you know, our
praiser lamb and that kind of thing, and then there's
kind of sleeping tablets in there as well, pain medication, morphine,
but then also a bunch of illicit drugs as well, GHB,
(03:29):
I mean that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So how long could it detect drugs in someone's system for.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
This is that's a really big question that lots of
people have been asking us and that we don't really
have a clear answer for. So police for the roadside tests,
police are using the same Australia New Zealand standard that
is used in lots of kind of workplace testing devices.
(03:55):
There's basically a kind of a standard for sensitivity and
that standard standard actually specifically says that it's not appropriate
to relate presence of drugs in oral fluid to impairment,
so they're not testing for impairment, they're testing for kind
of recent drug use. But they haven't We've asked police
(04:18):
to say, you know, what are the rough detection windows here,
so that people know and people can kind of do
the same thing, But we haven't got that information yet.
But from the studies that are out there, there's a
real wide range. And the thing is it really depends
on so many factors. You know, your body, what you've
been eating, how much you've taken, how frequently you're taking
(04:39):
a drugs. So from what's out there, would say THHC
and cannabis can stick around in your saliva from kind
of twelve up to sometimes seventy two hours. MDMA is
sometimes a matter of days in some cases and some
studies up to four days, with amphetamine up to four
days and cocaine up to forty eight hours. So we
(05:00):
police have said that they've set the thresholds at a
level they consider to only indicate recent use, but we
haven't been able to kind of get any more specific
information than that, and that that is a worry.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So there is a chance that they may no longer
be impaired by the drug, but they could test positive
for it. So is there is there anything else that
the police can do on the roadside to judge just
to whether the person is impaired.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Well, not under this scheme. So that's kind of what
we've been arguing for from the beginning. We would much
rather an impairment approach, which actually then becomes pretty agnostic
as to how someone is impaired. You know, there's lots
of things like you know, lack of sleep, stress that
can cause impairment, and so we've been advocating for some
(05:50):
kind of tests that would test for impairment, but no,
this test, the random roadside drug tests. Basically if you
take them and you fail, then then that's the end
of that. The police can also do a compulsory impairment test,
as they can do with any traffic stop at the moment,
if they have reasonable or good cause to suspect that
(06:13):
you are under the influence. That it gets a little
bit a little bit complicated. They can only happen up
to a certain point in this roadside drug screening process,
after you've failed two screening tests. They actually can't do
that compulsor impairment test anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I mean, Hayden, this is a really good move because
we know that over the fast few years there's been
a consistent rise in the presence of impairing drugs and
driver's blood and fatal crashes. It's now generally about equal
to alcohol. So we want to do this. The laws
were changed in twenty twenty two. I feel like we've
been talking about it for so long. I'm sort of
(06:56):
still quitely taken back that we actually haven't started doing this,
But I'm presuming and I do believe that the police
did say the biggest issue to starting was that the
roadside drug driving tests, that key tool that they need.
You know, they just couldn't find a suitable one. Has
that been the hold up?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And look, we would love it if there was a
test that was similar to alcohol breathalyzers, where you could
draw a pretty straight line between what the result is
and how likely it is that someone's impaired. It just
isn't the case for these other drugs. As I said before,
there's there's these huge long windows where someone may have
(07:38):
taken the drug, but you know, hours or days ago,
would be no longer impaired, but they're still picked up
by the system. And that's particularly problematic when it comes
to medicinal cannabis. So most medicinal cannabis now contains THHC,
and this will mean that, you know, people who are
(07:59):
taking medicinal cannabis for whatever reason, for chronic pain, for
sleeping issues, may end up being barred from driving for
twelve hours. There is a medical defense in this scheme,
but that only actually kicks in once you once that
test goes to the lab, and once you get an
infringement notice. So that kind of ban from driving for
(08:23):
twelve hours if you fail twice at the roadside still
would apply no matter whether you're taking your medicinal cannabis.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And a totally that is going to that's going to
be an issue with all the prescribed medications. Don't look
if you get if you get sprung for taking an
illegal substance, I'm a bit I'm not so fussed if
you get you know, if you get the fine for that.
But you know, for people who actually do have you know,
a doctor prescribe medications, there needs to be some kind
of allowance there or understanding of how that works. Do
you know what you would get what the fine would be?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah. Yeah, So there's there's a couple of different fines.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
So if you're if your simple get sent to the
lab after that first positive test at the roadside, they'll
test for that long list of twenty five drugs.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
If they find just one drug.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
And you don't have a medical defense for it, you'll
get a two hundred dollar fine and fifty demerit points.
And if they find two or more drugs they'll get
at you'll get a four hundred dollars fine and seventy
five demerit points.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay, is that a lot?
Speaker 4 (09:29):
I would say it's probably on par with that kind
of lower tier of the alcohol breath testing regime. So
obviously alcohol breath testing kind of has the two different
tiers of the kind of infringement zone. But then if
you blow well over then you get into much greater penalties.
(09:52):
To be honest, I think that this the fines probably
reflect the confidence in the results and the technology. As
I said before, the standard that they're using actually explicitly
says it's not a appropriate to use this as a
measure of impairment, and so the law is actually quite
carefully written to say to say nothing about impairment around this, this.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Test rosetart testing regime.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
It's all about the detection of drugs, no matter kind
of whether that's impairing you or not.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, Hayden, thank you so much of your time. Really
appreciate this morning. That was Hayden Eastern mainly.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So in just over a week, roadside drug testing of
drivers will begin in Wellington. The aim is to then
roll it out nationwide by mid twenty twenty six. So
how will it work and how reliable will this testing be?
Hayden Eastern Maine from the Drug Foundation joins me now
to talk us through it. Hi, Hayden, how are you.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Good morning, Francisca, Yeah, really good, Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Are you supportive of this move?
Speaker 4 (00:38):
Well, we're definitely supportive of not having impaired drivers on
the road and it definitely is a big problem. But
right the way through this process to the current point
of almost going live, we've had concerns about this approach.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Okay, let's start with what the tests involved. Maybe can
you talk me through that?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yeah? Sure.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
So there's two components. There's a road side screening test
and then a lab test. So the roadside screening tests,
they'll be done randomly by by police, similar to.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Breathalyzer tests for alcohol. At the moment, and this.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
Is there's a there's a small device called a drug
wipe where they will take a little tongue scrape, which
doesn't sound very pleasant, but apparently it's It's pretty quick.
And the first test is screening for just four drugs,
So it's screening for th HC, which is one of
the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, and m D
(01:47):
m A, And so if you don't if you don't
test positive for any of those and that first test,
then you'll be on your way. If you do test positive,
you will be asked to provide a saliva sample that
will be sent off to the lab, but you'll also
(02:07):
be asked to do a second roadside screening test, and
if that also tests positive, you'll be barred from driving
for twelve hours. And then in the meantime, that sample
that was sent off to the lab that gets tested
against actually a much larger list of twenty five different substances.
Lots of medicines are in there as well, not just
illicit drugs, and if you are found to have those
(02:32):
in your system, then you can have an infringement notice,
which comes with a fine and demeror points.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Hayden, that second test that they do on the roadside
is that the same test that they did the first
time around. It's just a double checking.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
No, they use different equipment.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So yeah, the roadside test is very much like a
handheld device that's meant to be used in the field,
and so that's quite a specific test with actually higher thresholds.
So and then the lab test is done with different
equipment that's more precise and it's got kind of lower
thresholds and it's a really long list of substances. So
(03:08):
there's kind of your benzodiazepine medicine so you know, our
praiser lamb and that kind of thing, and then there's
kind of sleeping tablets in there as well, pain medication, morphine,
but then also a bunch of illicit drugs as well, GHB,
(03:29):
I mean that kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So how long could it detect drugs in someone's system for.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
This is that's a really big question that lots of
people have been asking us and that we don't really
have a clear answer for. So police for the roadside tests,
police are using the same Australia New Zealand standard that
is used in lots of kind of workplace testing devices.
(03:55):
There's basically a kind of a standard for sensitivity and
that standard standard actually specifically says that it's not appropriate
to relate presence of drugs in oral fluid to impairment,
so they're not testing for impairment, they're testing for kind
of recent drug use. But they haven't We've asked police
(04:18):
to say, you know, what are the rough detection windows here,
so that people know and people can kind of do
the same thing, But we haven't got that information yet.
But from the studies that are out there, there's a
real wide range. And the thing is it really depends
on so many factors. You know, your body, what you've
been eating, how much you've taken, how frequently you're taking
(04:39):
a drugs. So from what's out there, would say THHC
and cannabis can stick around in your saliva from kind
of twelve up to sometimes seventy two hours. MDMA is
sometimes a matter of days in some cases and some
studies up to four days, with amphetamine up to four
days and cocaine up to forty eight hours. So we
(05:00):
police have said that they've set the thresholds at a
level they consider to only indicate recent use, but we
haven't been able to kind of get any more specific
information than that, and that that is a worry.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So there is a chance that they may no longer
be impaired by the drug, but they could test positive
for it. So is there is there anything else that
the police can do on the roadside to judge just
to whether the person is impaired.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
Well, not under this scheme. So that's kind of what
we've been arguing for from the beginning. We would much
rather an impairment approach, which actually then becomes pretty agnostic
as to how someone is impaired. You know, there's lots
of things like you know, lack of sleep, stress that
can cause impairment, and so we've been advocating for some
(05:50):
kind of tests that would test for impairment, but no,
this test, the random roadside drug tests. Basically if you
take them and you fail, then then that's the end
of that. The police can also do a compulsory impairment test,
as they can do with any traffic stop at the moment,
if they have reasonable or good cause to suspect that
(06:13):
you are under the influence. That it gets a little
bit a little bit complicated. They can only happen up
to a certain point in this roadside drug screening process,
after you've failed two screening tests. They actually can't do
that compulsor impairment test anymore.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
I mean, Hayden, this is a really good move because
we know that over the fast few years there's been
a consistent rise in the presence of impairing drugs and
driver's blood and fatal crashes. It's now generally about equal
to alcohol. So we want to do this. The laws
were changed in twenty twenty two. I feel like we've
been talking about it for so long. I'm sort of
(06:56):
still quitely taken back that we actually haven't started doing this,
But I'm presuming and I do believe that the police
did say the biggest issue to starting was that the
roadside drug driving tests, that key tool that they need.
You know, they just couldn't find a suitable one. Has
that been the hold up?
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And look, we would love it if there was a
test that was similar to alcohol breathalyzers, where you could
draw a pretty straight line between what the result is
and how likely it is that someone's impaired. It just
isn't the case for these other drugs. As I said before,
there's there's these huge long windows where someone may have
(07:38):
taken the drug, but you know, hours or days ago,
would be no longer impaired, but they're still picked up
by the system. And that's particularly problematic when it comes
to medicinal cannabis. So most medicinal cannabis now contains THHC,
and this will mean that, you know, people who are
(07:59):
taking medicinal cannabis for whatever reason, for chronic pain, for
sleeping issues, may end up being barred from driving for
twelve hours. There is a medical defense in this scheme,
but that only actually kicks in once you once that
test goes to the lab, and once you get an
infringement notice. So that kind of ban from driving for
(08:23):
twelve hours if you fail twice at the roadside still
would apply no matter whether you're taking your medicinal cannabis.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
And a totally that is going to that's going to
be an issue with all the prescribed medications. Don't look
if you get if you get sprung for taking an
illegal substance, I'm a bit I'm not so fussed if
you get you know, if you get the fine for that.
But you know, for people who actually do have you know,
a doctor prescribe medications, there needs to be some kind
of allowance there or understanding of how that works. Do
you know what you would get what the fine would be?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Yeah. Yeah, So there's there's a couple of different fines.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
So if you're if your simple get sent to the
lab after that first positive test at the roadside, they'll
test for that long list of twenty five drugs.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
If they find just one drug.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
And you don't have a medical defense for it, you'll
get a two hundred dollar fine and fifty demerit points.
And if they find two or more drugs they'll get
at you'll get a four hundred dollars fine and seventy
five demerit points.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Okay, is that a lot?
Speaker 4 (09:29):
I would say it's probably on par with that kind
of lower tier of the alcohol breath testing regime. So
obviously alcohol breath testing kind of has the two different
tiers of the kind of infringement zone. But then if
you blow well over then you get into much greater penalties.
(09:52):
To be honest, I think that this the fines probably
reflect the confidence in the results and the technology. As
I said before, the standard that they're using actually explicitly
says it's not a appropriate to use this as a
measure of impairment, and so the law is actually quite
carefully written to say to say nothing about impairment around this, this.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Test rosetart testing regime.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
It's all about the detection of drugs, no matter kind
of whether that's impairing you or not.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, Hayden, thank you so much of your time. Really
appreciate this morning. That was Hayden Eastern mainly.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin, listen
live to News Talks it'd be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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