An examination of the Cannabis as Medicine Survey 2020 (CAMS-20) has found that patients who access cannabis through a prescription are significantly less likely to drive while impaired compared to those who obtain it through illegal channels.
The research focused on a section of CAMS-20 that gathered data on driving behaviours, attitudes, and perceptions among medicinal cannabis users across Australia.
Of the 1,063 medicinal cannabis users who said they had driven a motor vehicle in the past 12 months, 124 were prescription-only patients. Just 9% of that group (n=11) admitted to driving while "high".
That figure climbed sharply among those sourcing medicinal cannabis through the illicit market, where 30% reported driving while impaired. Among dual users — those accessing cannabis through both legal and illegal means — the figure was 31%.
On the question of roadside drug testing, more than half of all respondents said the prospect would discourage them from driving after consuming medicinal cannabis. Prescription-only patients expressed the least concern at 52%, compared with 56% of illicit users and 57% of dual users.
A large majority of prescription-only patients — 85% — believed their cannabis use did not affect their driving ability. They were also more inclined than other groups to agree that recreational cannabis use impairs driving, with 70% holding that view, against 48% of illicit users and 49% of dual users.
Dr Thomas Arkell, a research fellow at Swinburne University of Technology and co-author of the study, acknowledged that the prescription-only patient sample was relatively small, though considerably larger than those seen in previous CAMS surveys.
He said additional analysis of the data showed "illicit users are more than twice as likely to drive under the influence of cannabis relative to prescribed users".
Drug-driving campaigners have long pushed for cannabis to be treated in the same way as other prescription medications, with legitimate patients shielded from prosecution when THC is detected in their system, provided there is no actual impairment. At present, Tasmania is the only state with such an exemption in place.
Medicinal Cannabis Industry Association chair Peter Crock recently told the Sydney Morning Herald that shifting users away from illegal products and toward prescribed medicinal cannabis was a meaningful contribution to harm minimisation.
To read the full study, click here.
