Drive with illicit substance in system (drug driving) lawyers

Our expert criminal lawyers for a drug driving offence can help you:

• Obtain bail.
• Be found not guilty.
• Receive a lenient sentence, like no conviction and no prison.

You will be represented by a team of award-winning criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, who offer fixed fees and free first consultations.

You can read our reviews here.

Drug driving

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. 

The prosecution does not need to prove that the driver was impaired by the drug at the time of driving. It is sufficient for the prosecution to establish that the prohibited substance was detected in the driver’s system. 

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 ordinarily: 

• Receive a criminal conviction; and 
• Lose your driver’s license.

However, if the court deals with the matter by way of a s 10 dismissal or Conditional Release Order without conviction, you may avoid a criminal record and keep your license. 

What is drug driving?

Drug driving with an illicit substance is driving with a substance present in your oral fluid, blood, or urine.

Police do not need to prove that your driving was impaired. It is enough that the prohibited drug was detected in your system. 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,
• Methamphetamine,
• Ecstasy (MDMA),
• Cocaine

What happens when you are stopped?

Police in NSW conduct roadside drug testing using saliva swabs. If you test positive:

1. You will undergo a secondary test at the roadside or station.
2. Your licence may be immediately suspended.
3. You may be issued a Court attendance Notice or a fine.

How do I avoid a criminal record?

Our criminal lawyers will assist you in preparing your defence for drug driving, 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

Pleading not guilty 

If you deny the offence, our criminal lawyer can carefully examine: 

• Whether police followed correct roadside procedures, 
• Whether the testing equipment functioned properly, and
• Whether there are legal issues affecting the admissibility of the evidence. 

Our lawyers regularly defend drug driving matters in courts across Sydney. Some common defences include:

• Necessity.
• Duress. 
• Honest and reasonable mistake. 
• False positives, Amphetamines prescribed for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have been confirmed to have the potential to result in false positives.

You can read more information about pleading not guilty here.

Pleading guilty 

To be found guilty, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt:

• 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.

You can read more about pleading guilty here.

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 pay the fine, you will not receive a criminal conviction. However, Transport for NSW will later issue a license suspension notice. You then have 28 days to appeal the suspension in the Local Court. 

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. Penalties include criminal convictions, fines of up to $2,200, and licence disqualification of up to 6 months, which the magistrate can reduce to a minimum of 3 months.

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 a sentence in the Local Court. 

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, which the magistrate can reduce to a minimum of 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.

Do I need references?

We believe references are an extremely important part of a plea of guilty in court. Read about court processes and how to write a good character reference.

Contact Australian Criminal Law Group

Our criminal lawyers, with 500+ five-star Google reviews, can beat a drug driving charge or obtain a lenient sentence for you if you plead guilty.

Call us on (02) 8815 8167 for your free first conference or submit a website enquiry.

Case studies 

Found not guilty 

Our criminal defence lawyer represented a client who was charged with driving with an illicit substance in their system. Our client was subject to a roadside swab that produced a positive to methylamphetamine. He was taken back to the police station to give a second sample. The officer testing him swabbed him, then dropped the swab on the table before picking it up and sending it to the laboratory for analysis. The second swab came back positive, and the client was charged. Our client pleaded not guilty and subpoenaed police footage of the second test. Our lawyer argued that the evidence should be excluded because of improper testing procedures that posed a risk of contamination. Our client was found not guilty.

No criminal record 

Our criminal defence lawyer represented a client who was charged with three charges of driving with an illicit substance on three different days after never having a similar charge before. Our lawyer combined them into a single sentence proceeding, treating them as first offences despite occurring on different dates. This meant that our client could receive conditional release orders without convictions on all three offences, which he did, and, as a result, he kept his licence and had no criminal record.