My Lords, I beg to move this Motion standing in the name of my noble friend Baroness Kramer on the Order Paper. The draft regulations are being made to specify the drugs and the limits over which it will be an offence to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle in England and Wales. As noble Lords are aware, the review of drink and drug-driving law by Sir Peter North concluded that there was a large drug-driving problem and recommended this new offence. Drivers impaired by drugs kill large numbers of people: there could be as many as 200 drug- driving related deaths a year in the United Kingdom. Figures show that a drug-driver has one-fiftieth of the chance of being prosecuted compared to a drink-driver and yet European evidence suggests that drug-driving is about half as prevalent as drink-driving—so enforcement related to drugs is disproportionately low. These regulations will thus enable more effective law enforcement.
The drugs included in the draft regulations have been recommended by the expert panel in its report, Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, as being the drugs that pose the greatest road safety risk. The Government have additionally included LSD, as while the expert panel stated that,
“LSD usage in the UK driving population is unknown”,
it also stated:
“The use of LSD is not likely to be compatible with the skills required for driving”.
The Government consider that even if there are just a small number of cases, it is worth including LSD as the police would then have the powers to progress these cases.
The Government have also taken note of noble Lords’ concerns about the potential impact on patients in previous debates during the passage of the Crime and Courts Bill, which introduced a new offence by breaking down morphine into a subdivision of its metabolic marker, which is called 6-MAM. This will separate heroin users from those taking opiate-based medication. However, we have not included the expert panel’s recommendation on amphetamine. We intend to do that at a later date but, first, we aim to reconsult later this year on a limit for amphetamine. I apologise that I could not pronounce that medical word. I am
not a doctor by profession and I have taken on this order at very short notice. We accept that there is significant medical use and that having a low limit might discourage ADHD patients, in particular, from taking their medication. Evidence came to light during the consultation of a large study, published on the day before the consultation closed, showing that unmedicated ADHD patients represent a road safety risk. I believe that this demonstrates to noble Lords that the Government have been listening to the medical profession and want to ensure that all patients continue to take their medication and to drive, providing that they are not impaired.
The Government have also included in the draft regulations the road safety risk- based limits, as recommended by the expert panel, for those drugs most associated with medical uses. In most cases, this will be above the normal therapeutic ranges so patients would not provide a positive result if any blood test was taken. The Government recognise that there may be some patients who have built up tolerances to higher doses, and who could be above the specified limits and be safe to drive. There is a medical defence available to those drivers and we want to ensure that they are dealt with swiftly at the roadside, to reduce any inconvenience to them.
This is why the Government published guidance to healthcare professionals on the new drug-driving offence earlier this month, which includes an explanation of how to raise a medical defence early on in any dealings with the police in relation to driving. If the police view is that they are impaired from driving, the existing Section 4 offence will apply. The guidance has been widely circulated to medical bodies and patient support groups, and we are confident that it will reach those providing the advice and, ultimately, their patients. However, we will be monitoring the new offence and bodies such as the British Pain Society and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have agreed to assist us and report directly to our researcher if any negative impacts emerge.
Finally, rather than setting limits for eight illegal drugs at the expert panel’s recommended limits where a road safety risk applies, the Government have proposed a zero-tolerance approach as they believe that it would be unacceptable to the wider public to set limits where it is okay to take a certain amount of illegal drugs and drive. Zero tolerance does not mean zero limits, as we do not want to provide an opportunity to any defence lawyer stating that their client was exposed to others’ use of a drug, such as by passive inhalation. That is why I am proposing to the Committee limits for these eight illegal drugs as above “accidental exposure”. These limits have been provided by an expert advisory group, which includes some of the members of the expert panel, such as Dr Kim Wolff, to whom I am most grateful for her hard work on the matter. Those drugs and their limits have been supported in a public consultation, and I believe that we are taking a balanced and pragmatic approach. I beg to move.
2.15 pm