Today leading doctors' association BMA Scotland becomes the latest organisation to back the Sunday Herald’s campaign for new legislation to tackle drug-driving. The horrific toll of drug-driving in Scotland was revealed earlier this month, by an analysis of fatal accidents involving drivers which showed the same number died on the roads after taking cannabis as those who died after drinking. The shocking research led to calls for the Scottish Government to follow the lead of England and Wales, which introduced drug-driving limits and roadside drugalysers tests two years ago.
But so far the only response from the Scottish Government has been to say it is waiting on an evaluation of how the measures in England and Wales are working. Of course making sure there is sufficient evidence is a wise move, but there has already been a major review, a consultation exercise across the UK and the example of thousands of arrests and convictions in the first year of the legislation south of the border.
The Scottish Government took the welcome step of becoming the first country in the UK to lower the drink-drive limit to make our roads safer. When it published a consultation on drug-driving in 2013, then-justice minister Kenny MacAskill even stated: “We must not lose sight of the problems caused by drug-drivers”.
This makes the decision to procrastinate over this issue even more baffling. The Scottish Government needs to urgently tackle the menace of drug-driving and ensure it becomes as socially unacceptable as drink-driving. One death on the roads is one too many – but even more so when there is action which could have been taken to prevent it.
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