Cannabis results in impaired judgement, poor motor coordination and reaction time and studies have found a direct relationship between the level of THC in the blood and impaired driving ability, especially in people who consumed cannabis just before driving, Doctors for Road Safety said.

Cannabis-related driving is common, with a US survey conducted in 2013-2014, finding that 12.6% of weekend night-time drivers tested positive for THC, the group pointed out in a statement.

Recreational use of cannabis is set to be legalised by Parliament in a vote that will be taken on Tuesday, despite opposition from over 50 organisations and the Opposition.

“Combining alcohol with cannabis results in an additive effect with regards impairing driving coordination, the doctors said.  There is currently no mention in Maltese law of any increase in penalty with regards co-ingestion of drugs with alcohol,” Doctors for Road Safety said.

“Cannabis is associated with increased road traffic crashes and deaths.  Whilst trends in motor vehicle crash fatalities involving alcohol remained stable in the United States (US) between 2000 and 2018, the percentage of fatalities involving cannabis and cannabis with alcohol more than doubled between 2000 and 2018. In Colorado and Washington states traffic deaths involving drivers who tested positive for cannabis doubled since cannabis was legalised,” they observed.

The group noted that according to current Maltese law, driving licences shall not be issued to or renewed for applicants or drivers who are dependent on psychotropic substances or who are not dependent on such substances but regularly abuse them, whatever category of licence is requested. 

“If the law goes through, will cannabis still qualify as being a drug of abuse, and will users be allowed to drive according to this law?”, the group questioned.

Doctors for Road Safety pointed out that in Australia and many European Union countries, the THC concentration used to define a cannabis-related driving offence has been set between 1 and 2 ng/ml of THC in blood (ng/ml), whilst this is set at 5ng/ml in the US. 

“No such THC concentrations currently exist in Maltese law and there is thus no difference in the Maltese law between cannabis-impaired driving and a cannabis-positive driver,” they noted.

With regards road-side testing for drug intoxication, most developed countries use an oral fluid test (later followed by a formal blood test for THC concentration if positive).  No such oral fluid test (also known as Approved Drug Screening Equipment is currently available to police officers in Malta for rapid testing of drugs (including cannabis) at the road-side, the group also said.

In conclusion, Doctors for Road Safety said that they believe that the commercialisation and increased availability of cannabis will likely lead to increased traffic accidents and deaths as recent studies have shown abroad.

The group called on the government to improve legislation with regards driving under the influence of drugs (including cannabis), especially when these are taken with alcohol. 

 

They also called for increased training and presence of enforcement officers on Maltese roads, together with the procurement of roadside tests for drug testing where needed.

Full position paper here