A 20-year-old Eden woman has had her conviction for driving a vehicle with illicit drugs in her system overturned on appeal.
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The woman was stopped in Eden in February for a random breath test and drug test, which located 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, more commonly known as ecstasy or MDMA, and Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
During her initial conviction magistrate Doug Dick noted that “on occasions” cannabis sold locally is laced with MDMA, and the woman had no knowledge it was present in her blood.
In Bega District Court last week, defence solicitor Ines Chiumento acknowledged the offence does not state the individuals are under any influence of cannabis.
“There are situations where people take precautions after smoking and then drive,” she said.
Noting a distinct lack of sufficient public transport in the Eden area, Judge Dina Yehia told the woman “her counterparts in the city would not be dealing with the same severity” before quashing the conviction and placing the woman on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
“There is no suggestion in this case her driving was impaired,” Judge Yehia said. She said it was not a law where police must prove drivers are impaired in any way.
“Parliament may not have realised cannabis stays in one’s system a long time.”
Judge Yehia also noted the therapeutic benefits of cannabis are being investigated by the same government who initiated the new road rule in 2015.
While defending her client, Ms Chiumento pointed to two successful cannabis driving appeals in August 2015 in the Bega District Court, where Judge Richard Cogswell drew attention to the “long lasting property of cannabis”.
In 2016, local court Magistrate David Heilpern found a man not guilty after accepting his evidence he had not smoked cannabis for nine days before failing a roadside saliva test, despite the government’s claims a positive test would not occur in those circumstances.