We are expert traffic lawyers who assist clients charged with driving with an illicit substance in their system to avoid criminal records and keep their driver’s licence. For driving with illicit substance in your system (drug driving) offences:
- You will be charged a fixed fee of $2,200.
- Be represented by a law firm with 500+ five-star Google reviews, which you can read here.
- Be represented by a traffic lawyer with at least 5 years of experience as a traffic lawyer.
- Be represented by a law firm co-founded by one of the best drug lawyers in Sydney, Joseph Correy.
- Be represented by a law firm co-founded by Deng Adut, who has won awards such as NSW Australian of the Year, the Law Society President’s Medal, the Pride of Australia Medal, and the Human Rights Award.
If you have been charged with a drug driving offence, phone us on (02) 8815 8167 or make a website enquiry.
Will I get a criminal record and lose my driver’s licence for drug driving?
If you are found or plead guilty to drug driving, you will have the offence included on your criminal record and lose your driver’s licence unless the court deals with your case by way of section 10, in which case you will have no criminal record and will not lose your driver’s licence.
Australian Criminal Law Group are expert criminal lawyers at getting clients section 10s for driving with illicit substance in system offences, meaning our clients have no criminal record and do not lose their driver’s licence.
What does drug driving mean?
Drug driving with an illicit substance or drug in your system is what it sounds like. It is driving while having an illicit substance or drug in your system that is tested and detected as part of Roadside drug tests. Roadside drug tests do not need to determine how much of the drug is in your system or if your driving ability is impaired.
It is enough to have the drug in your system at all. For example, if you had a joint three days earlier and tested positive for cannabis, you would still be guilty.
The substances commonly classified as prescribed illicit drugs include:
- Marijuana,
- Speed ad Ice (methamphetamine),
- Ecstasy (MDMA),
- Cocaine
How do I avoid a criminal record?
Our criminal lawyers will assist you in preparing your sentence for possessing prohibited drug offences, including:
- Directing you to the Traffic Offenders Intervention Program.
- Assisting you with references and an apology letter.
- Obtaining psychological and psychiatric reports.
- Directing you to other services, such as drug and alcohol programs, counsellors, psychologists, and psychiatrists.
- Referring you to programs and courses that the courts hold in high regard, like MERIT, SMART Recovery, and the Salvation Army’s Positive Lifestyles Program.
- Helping you collate corroborating documents that show the effect a conviction will have on you such as employment contracts and travel documents.
- Submitting applications for residential rehabilitation services
Infringement
It is possible that the police give you a traffic infringement (like a speeding fine), rather than a court attendance notice, for driving with an illicit substance in your system. Like any infringement notice, you can elect to go to court or pay the fine.
If you do not elect to go to court, upon payment of the fine, you will later receive a three-month suspension notice from Transport for New South Wales. From the date of the letter, you will have 28 days to lodge an appeal of the suspension with the Local Court. You can continue driving after you have lodged your appeal and at least until the day of your appeal in court. If your appeal is successful, then the court can set aside the suspension or reduce its length.
The advantage of choosing this method in response to the infringement is that even if the appeal is unsuccessful, you will not have a criminal record.
First Drug driving offence at court
If it is your first drug driving offence, the police will deal with your case in one of two ways.
If you challenge the infringement in court (as opposed to the suspension) or the police give you a court attendance notice, the Driving with an illicit substance in your system will most likely proceed to sentence in the Local Court. Penalties include criminal convictions, fines of up to $2,200, and licence disqualification of up to 6 months. In this circumstance, your traffic lawyer can argue for a section 10 in court, so you receive no criminal conviction, no fine, and no licence disqualification.
Second or subsequent Drug driving offence at court
For a second or subsequent drug driving offence, you will very likely receive a court attendance notice requiring you to go to court, where the police will prosecute you. Penalties include criminal convictions, fines of up to $3300, and licence disqualification of up to 12 months. In this circumstance, your traffic lawyer can argue for a section 10 in court, so you receive no criminal conviction, no fine, and no licence disqualification.
What happens when you are stopped?
Police in NSW conduct roadside drug testing using saliva swabs. If you test positive:
- You will undergo a secondary test at the roadside or station.
- Your licence may be immediately suspended.
- You may be issued a Court attendance Notice or a fine.
What must the police prove?
To secure a conviction, the prosecution must prove:
- You were driving or in control of a vehicle, and
- A prohibited drug was present in your system at the time.
Police do not need to prove impairment, as there is no safe limit for drugs.
Can you defend against a drug-driving charge?
Previously, the defence of an honest and reasonable mistake could be used to argue that a driver believed they were fine to drive. The laws are now classified as absolute liability offences, limiting defences available.
The main defences include:
- Faulty testing procedure: The key question to ask is whether the test was conducted correctly and whether the proper procedure was followed.
- False positive: Amphetamines, prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have been confirmed to have the potential to result in false positives.
CONTACT A CRIMINAL LAWYER TODAY
Call us on 8815 8167 or make a website enquiry for a free first consultation via phone, video, or at one of our offices in Sydney, Parramatta, or Blacktown.
This information is intended as a general guide to law only. It should not be relied on as legal advice, and it is recommended that you speak with a qualified lawyer about your situation. Australian Criminal Law Group and its suppliers make every reasonable effort to ensure the accuracy and validity of the information provided on its web pages. At the time of updating, this information was correct, however, given the laws in NSW and Australia are continually changing, the Australian Criminal Law Group makes no warranties or representations as to its accuracy.Â