Cannabis should be completely legal in Australia 🇦🇺
AFL coaching greats Damien Hardwick and Alastair Clarkson have teamed up with champion jockey Damien Oliver to call on the Allan government to overhaul Victoria’s driving laws.
The three Australian sporting stars have joined forces in a new video urging the state government to give medicinal cannabis drivers a legal defence to get behind the wheel without the threat of losing their licence.
In 2016, Victoria became the first state to approve the use of weed for medicinal purposes, but it has remained a criminal offence to drive with THC — including from medicinal cannabis — within their system.
Despite the potential effects of cannabis having been abated by morning, traces of the drug will remain in a person’s system for weeks and will likely be picked up in a roadside drug test. There is currently no universally accepted technology to test for impairment instead.
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson called on Victorians to urge the government to establish a legal driving defence.
The pair want the Allan government to allow medicinal cannabis drivers a legal defence to get behind the wheel without the threat of losing their licence. Picture: Michael Klein
The pair want the Allan government to allow medicinal cannabis drivers a legal defence to get behind the wheel without the threat of losing their licence. Picture: Michael Klein
Clarkson uses medicinal cannabis to treat a “chronic and uncomfortable flare of pain” that he gets after exercising.
“I’ve got problems associated with wear and tear in the joints in my feet and my lower back,” he said.
“Australian athletes are highly susceptible to injury and deserve the right to access effective, safe pain medication. Those who are eligible for medical cannabis should not be discriminated against for their choice to take their prescribed medication.
“The road rules must be updated to give every Australian medical cannabis patient the freedom to take their prescribed pain relief without fear of losing their right to drive.”
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has also turned to using medicinal cannabis after a bike injury 10 years ago.
“What we’re asking for is the same treatments that Tasmanians enjoy,” he said.
“In Tassie, you can drive a car with THC in your bloodstream on two conditions – firstly, that you’re not impaired and secondly that you have a prescription for medicinal cannabis.”
Champion jockey Damien Oliver is also backing the campaign. Picture: Michael Klein
Champion jockey Damien Oliver is also backing the campaign. Picture: Michael Klein
Both Mr Clarkson and Mr Hardwick sit on the Levin Health Sports Advisory Board alongside Australian basketballers Lauren Jackson and Andrew Bogut, and NRL star Andrew Johns.
The Australian company is looking at ways to commercialise medicinal cannabis for the treatment of pain and mental health disorders.
The public call out is part of a video by the Cannabis Council Australia as part of the Let Patients Drive campaign.
Victorian Legalise Cannabis MPs have endorsed the campaign and will on Wednesday debate a motion in parliament calling on for unimpaired, prescription holders to be handed a legal defence if they test positive at a roadside drug test.
The Allan government has green lit an 18-month trial, due to start next month, which will let 70 medicinal cannabis users drive on an off-road track.
But Legalise Cannabis MP David Ettershank said patients couldn’t wait that long.
“It’s time to give patients a break and stop treating them like criminals,” he said.