RELATED: Fatal incident underlines the risks

A Warrnambool doctor says drugs can stay in a person’s system for months.

In a sobering warning to motorists, the impacts of drugs on drivers last longer than the kick.

South West Healthcare addiction medicine physician Rodger Brough says drug-use heightens the risk of driving incidents but the impacts vary depending on substance and quantity.

Dr Brough said the effects of cannabis varied from individuals. They depended on what other drugs had been consumed, how much and how often cannabis was smoked.

He said unless a user was suffering from paranoia or a mental illness, the impact would be similar to a sedative when driving.

He said depending how often cannabis was used, it could stay in a person’s urine for months.

“If someone is using more heavily and more consistently on a daily basis it can accumulate quite substantially in people’s systems for days and months,” he said. “It’s very much dependent on how much is used and how often.”

Dr Brough said the effect of methamphetamines, or ice, on drivers would depend on how much they used and how often along with what other drugs were in their system.

He said physicians were seeing an increased number of people smoking or injecting ice which meant it entered people’s system and brains quicker, causing a sudden and abrupt rush.

He said for some people this could result in abhorrent and violent behaviour.

Dr Brough said the number of people using methamphetamines hadn’t increased but the way people were using it had changed. In some cases it was being injected into the blood stream. 

He said for drivers who used amphetamines, or speed, the obvious problem was staying awake for long periods of time, heightening the risk of falling asleep at the wheel.

He said people using illicit drugs risked not knowing exactly what they were taking which made the effects much more unpredictable.

Dr Brough said with more people using illicit drugs the more the community was at risk of a wide range of social problems.

He said opiates and other sedative type medications were just as dangerous as alcohol and other drugs when taken incorrectly.

According to a report released by the Australian Drug Foundation, drug use and driving performance is not a straightforward issue.

“Impairment is dependent on a range of factors including the quantity of drug consumed, the time between ingestion and time of driving, as well as individual variability, such as level of tolerance and any pre-existing health condition,” the Drugs and Driving report said.