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Man’s 'internet research' results in misunderstanding of medicinal cannabis driving rules

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The man admitted to consuming medically prescribed cannabis before driving. Image / iStock

A man who claimed “internet research” led him to believe he could legally drive with medically prescribed cannabis in his system has been told otherwise by a magistrate.

The man was stopped by police on Watkinson Street in Devonport in June 2023 and subjected to an oral fluid test, which returned a positive result for THC.

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He was subsequently charged with driving a motor vehicle with an illicit drug present in his oral fluid.

In court, the man admitted to consuming medical cannabis before driving. He said the cannabis had been legally prescribed by a practitioner in Victoria and mailed to him in Tasmania.

He said he had self-administered the cannabis earlier that day to aid with sleep and believed he was not experiencing any of THC’s’ primary effects when he began driving.

A man was charged for driving with THC in his system. Image / Pulse

He also told the court that he had based his understanding of the legalities surrounding medicinal cannabis use and driving on information from an internet chat forum.

He believed it was lawful to drive after using medicinally prescribed cannabis as long as he was not ‘under the influence’.

The magistrate, in their recent published comments, said the defence provided under the Poisons Act 1971, which allows exceptions for driving with medicinal cannabis, did not apply in this case because the cannabis was not obtained from a medical practitioner in Tasmania.

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The magistrate rejected the man’s argument, saying his belief “was wrong” and the mistake “was one of law alone”.

“[He] said he gained his knowledge concerning driving with lawfully prescribed THC in his body from an internet chat forum rather than from a legal practitioner or other proper authority,” they said.

“As such, I find he could not reasonably rely upon said information as the basis for his mistaken belief.”

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