MOTORISTS in Scotland will face fines of up to £5000 if they are caught breaking new ‘drug-drive’ limits under roadside testing due to be rolled out from October.
Offenders could also be banned from driving for 12 months or face up to six months in prison under the new rules, which will introduce a zero tolerance approach in relation to driving under the influence of eight drugs most associated with illegal use - including cannabis, ecstasy, ketamine, heroin and cocaine.
Read more: Drug driving linked to hundreds of accidents on Scotland's roads
Legal limits will also be set for eight prescribed medications known to impair driving above a safe threshold. These include morphine, diazepam, methadone and temazepam.
A separate approach will be taken to amphetamine, to balance legitimate medical uses against its abuse.
The new system will take effect from October 21. It brings Scotland into line with England and Wales, where drug drive limits have been in place since 2015.
Read more: Families of children killed by drug drivers urge change in law
Chief Inspector Stephen Innes of Police Scotland said: “Police Scotland is committed to reducing road casualties, and tackling drink and drug driving is a key focus of our activity.
"The devastating impact of drug driving on victims, communities and users themselves cannot be understated.
"This new legislation will significantly enhance our ability to detect and deter motorists engaging in this extremely risky driving behaviour."
Although it is already an offence to be in charge of a motor vehicle while unfit due to drugs, there have never been set limits as there are with alcohol. C
urrently, police must rely on a doctor to certify that a driver is, in their opinion, unfit to drive due to drugs.
New roadside testing devices - similar to breathalysers for alcohol - are currently only certified to screen for cannabis or cocaine.
Blood tests will be used to check for other illicit drugs or measure for an excess concentration of prescribed drugs.
Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for road safety charity, Brake, welcomed the move but said more needed to be done to identify drug-drive breaches at the roadside.
He said: “Drug-driving is an increasing menace on our roads, putting innocent road users at risk every day with dangerous, impaired driving.
"A zero-tolerance approach is a great step forward for Scotland but will only be effective if there are enough police, with the right equipment, to enforce the new law.
“At present, only devices which can screen for cannabis and cocaine use are approved to be used by police at the roadside, limiting the ability to detect drug-driving and enforce the law.
"Priority must be given to the type-approval of roadside screening devices that can detect all banned drugs, helping the police enforce the law.”
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