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Taylor-Cyphers said such vagueness is not acceptable.
“In my opinion, the impairment is a real mistake when using it as a legal standard.”
Taylor-Cyphers wants the government to put on the brakes.
And it is not alone: documents released under the Official Information Law show that officials at the Transport Ministry wanted the government to postpone the introduction of the legislation until after the elections.
That was due to concerns raised by the chairman of the government-appointed expert panel, which provides technical advice on setting criminal limits – how much of a drug is allowed to be in a person’s system before it is released. sanctions apply.
The drafting and recruiting delays and then COVID-19 meant that the chair of the panel, ESR’s forensic toxicologist Dr. Helen Poulsen, told the government that they had not had enough time to do their job.
The government ignored officials’ request to wait until after the election, introducing the legislation in late July, but without the section on criminal drug limits giving the expert panel time to provide advice.
National Party spokesman on drug reform, Nick Smith, said the government presented a half bill before Parliament in its last weeks.
“What we can see in the Attorney General’s report … and in the [concerns] from the panel of experts …[is] that this is a bit of a hasty and sloppy job driven by politics. “
Smith said the presentation of the bill without the details on criminal limits showed the government was ill-prepared and disorderly.
But Deputy Transportation Minister Julie Anne Genter said details of the criminal drug limits the expert panel worked on would be added to the legislation now that it was at the select committee stage, replacing the vague wording on disability.
He said there would be plenty of time for the public and politicians to scrutinize the legislation.
“It will be very specific, and the guidance that is guiding this, we want it to be similar to the alcohol regimen in the sense that it is not penalizing people who used a harmful substance weeks ago, but rather capturing something that is likely to be harmful. [now]. “
Genter said that drug tests were being used widely abroad without causing a large number of wrongful convictions.
“I feel really comfortable that we have taken every precaution to protect people and make sure they are not unjustly criminalized, and that [there are] security measures such as being able to opt for a blood test. “
Genter said that last year more than 100 people were killed in crashes where the driver was later found to have drugs in his system.
“Ultimately, both random drug testing and the existing breath testing regime will go against some of the rights under the Bill of Rights because we are asking large numbers of innocent drivers to go through a test. mandatory.
“Our ultimate goal is to balance those rights with the rights of people to be safe on the road and protected from people who choose to drive while intoxicated.”
Public presentations on the bill are open.
RNZ
