A man driving with his young daughter has become the first person to test positive under New Zealand’s new roadside oral fluid drug screening regime.<\/p>\n
The 40-year-old was stopped at a police checkpoint on Hutt Rd just before 9pm on Thursday where officers used the new device that detects four impairing drugs: THC (cannabis), methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), and cocaine.<\/p>\n
“The test came back positive for methamphetamine,” said Superintendent Steve Greally, Director of Road Policing.<\/p>\n
Following the initial screening, the man was required to provide a saliva sample for laboratory testing but was unable to do so. He was then asked to provide a blood sample, which he refused.<\/p>\n
He was summonsed to appear in the Hutt Valley District Court in January and has had his licence suspended for 28 days. The man and his daughter were taken home in a police car.<\/p>\n
Greally said drug-impaired driving had caused “some of the most heartbreaking and horrific crashes” he has witnessed.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve seen the devastation etched on the faces of wh\u0101nau when they hear the unthinkable: that their loved one is gone,” he said. <\/p>\n
“We make no apology for screening drivers to see if they’ve recently used drugs, and getting a drugged driver off our roads makes them safer.”<\/p>\n