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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for roadside drug testing; and what assessment he has made of the (a) value and (b) effectiveness of such tests. [221704] Caroline Flint: We have already given the police a power to conduct compulsory roadside tests for impairment, which may be due to a drug, and for the presence of drugs. Impairment tests are conducted in accordance with a Code of Practice issued on 20 December 2004. They involve a trained officer observing a suspect in the performance of specified tasks and making other observations about his physical state. They are based on the voluntary field impairment tests and drug recognition techniques that have been in use for some time and are of proven effectiveness in indicating whether a person might be under the influence of a drug. Tests for the presence of drugs have to be carried out by means of a device of a type approved by the Secretary of State. We are currently developing the detailed specification for such a device and the procedures by which candidate devices might be assessed in field and laboratory trials. It will then be for manufacturers to produce such devices and submit them for approval. We currently expect that suitable products will be on the market by the end of 2006. A reliable indication of drug presence will, in the same way as a reliable indication of impairment, valuably inform the police decision whether a person might be committing the offence of driving or attempting to drive while unfit to drive through drugs.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

432 c1833W;432 c1828W; 221704

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Driving Drugs Driving under influence Police Misuse Testing

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk