Drugalyser tests were introduced in the United Kingdom in March 2015. There, breathalyser tests were first used in 1967 with the Road Safety Act of the same year, while in Malta it was introduced in 1998. Will it take us till 2046 to introduce drugalyser tests in our system?

With the introduction of breathalyser tests, the legislator sought to try and stop or, rather, reduce the number of people willing to risk driving under the influence of alcohol.

The law, particularly article 15A of Chapter 65 of the laws of Malta, lays down that “No person shall drive or attempt to drive or be in charge of a motor vehicle or other vehicle on a road or other public space if he is unfit to drive through drink or drugs”.

So, both driving under the influence of drink or under the influence of drugs are considered to be criminal offences. In the case of drink, we have a mechanism of conducting tests to verify the level of alcohol content but there is no such mechanism in place for drugs. There is a prescribed set limit level of alcohol that cannot be exceeded.

We have to make a clear distinction here.

Both driving under the influence of drink or under the influence of drugs are considered to be criminal offences

Intoxication in the case of alcohol is not in itself a criminal offence. Thus, if you become drunk you are not breaking the law, except under article 338 (ff) of the Criminal Code, which lays down that: “Every person is guilty of a contravention against public order, who … in  any public place or place open to the  public, is found drunk and incapable of taking care of himself;  or in any public place or place open to the public, being in charge of a child under the age of seven years, or of any horse, mule or ox, or steam engine, or of any vehicle, is manifestly in a state of intoxication, or, being in such a state, causes any annoyance or disturbance, or is in possession of firearms, or refuses to quit any wine and spirit shop, inn, tavern or lodging-house, or attempts to enter any passenger boat or vessel or other vehicle, or refuses to quit such boat, vessel or other vehicle notwithstanding the warning of the person in charge thereof not to enter into or to quit such boat, vessel or other vehicle.”

It is different in the case of drug intoxication, which may lead to a different strata of drug-related criminal offences, though, as stated above, driving under the influence of drugs is a criminal offence but catching in flagrante someone driving under the influence of drugs, after carrying out a drugalyser test, may not simply lead to prosecution for driving under the influence of drugs but also to other drug-related offences. This may be why the authorities have been taking long to establish the drugalyser test.

For this to happen, a mechanism has to be put into place and this in the light of a number of statutory rights afforded to a suspect and, more so, because, first and foremost, one has to establish a drug limit on the same lines that exist for alcohol. Secondly, a distinction between drugs and prescribed medication or any reference to narcotic and psychotropic  substances covered by the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance has to be established too.

To date, for a test to be taken on suspected drug use, authorisation from the duty magistrate is required, which is practically impossible to acquire on the spot.

Errol Cutajar is a Nationalist candidate on the second and third electoral districts.

Question Time this week is not being carried in its usual format as the Labour Party failed to submit itscontribution on time.

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