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© 2010, Routledge. All rights reserved. This article provides an overview of the new drug-driving laws that exist in Australia. It explains that, like drink-driving offences, the drug-driving laws prima facie infringe civil liberties. Yet these infringements are permissible, providing the laws promote road safety and thereby the civil liberty of the right to life. The article then analyses empirical evidence concerning the effects of different illicit drugs on driving skills. It is argued that it is not practical or necessary to require this evidence base to match the standard reached with respect to alcohol. However, suggestions are made as to how drugdriving legislation could better promote road safety, including by recognising the interrelationships between drug-driving, drug-dependency and unemployment. The final section of the article critically examines aspects of Tasmanian law, which appear to focus more upon drug law enforcement than the enhancement of road safety.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Law and Legal Studies
Research Group:	Public law
Research Field:	Public law not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Justice and the law
Objective Field:	Justice and the law not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Prichard, JP (Associate Professor Jeremy Prichard)
UTAS Author:	Matthews, AJ (Dr Allison Matthews)
UTAS Author:	Bruno, RB (Associate Professor Raimondo Bruno)
UTAS Author:	Rayment, K (Dr Kate Cashman)
UTAS Author:	James, HM (Dr Helen Cockburn)
ID Code:	65883
Year Published:	2010
Deposited By:	Law
Deposited On:	2010-12-08
Last Modified:	2017-04-11
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