Tested Positive at a Roadside Drug Test in Tasmania? What Happens Next
Last verified:
Tasmania is different — but the defence is not a force field
Tasmania is the only Australian jurisdiction where a lawfully prescribed, unimpaired patient has a genuine defence to driving with THC present. That's why reformers everywhere cite Tasmania. But the defence has elements that must be made out, and the process still starts the same way: a positive test, a lab sample, and potentially a charge.
1. The roadside process. Screening test, secondary test if positive, and a driving ban while the sample goes to the laboratory.
2. Possible charge. Police can still charge you — the defence is raised in response to a charge, not shown at the car window. Whether police proceed can depend on the circumstances and the evidence you can point to.
3. The defence. Section 6A(2) of the Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1970 provides a defence where the prescribed illicit drug "was obtained and administered in accordance with the Poisons Act 1971." Courts have applied this strictly (see Smith v Marshall [2024] TASMC 12): it requires a prescription issued by a Tasmania-based, authorised prescriber and dispensed by a Tasmanian pharmacy, with the medicine used as directed. A mainland telehealth prescription does not qualify — if your script came from a national online clinic, tell your lawyer immediately, because your position is very different. Impaired driving remains an offence regardless.
What to do this week
- Assemble the defence documents now: prescription valid at the date of the test, dispensing records matching the product you actually took, and evidence of dosing as directed. The defence lives or dies on this file.
- Write down everything about the stop and your dosing that day — times, amounts, product.
- Tell your prescriber and ask that dose and timing guidance be noted on your record.
- Get legal advice even though a defence exists. Raising a statutory defence properly — and knowing what concessions or statements might undermine it — is lawyer territory. Don't run it yourself.
What NOT to do
- Don't assume the defence applies if you took more than prescribed, took someone else's medication, or used a non-prescribed product alongside your script — those facts can defeat it.
- Don't assume the defence applies if your prescription came from a mainland or telehealth prescriber — courts have held the defence requires Tasmanian prescribing and dispensing under the Poisons Act 1971.
- Don't rely on the defence while driving interstate. It does not travel with you — the moment you cross into Victoria or onto the Spirit of Tasmania's mainland ports, the destination state's law applies. See our interstate guide.
- Don't drive impaired, ever. Impairment offences apply in Tasmania as everywhere, and the defence explicitly excludes impaired driving.
- Don't ignore paperwork or court dates because you believe you're covered.
Why your case still matters
Every cleanly-run Tasmanian defence matter adds to the national evidence that patient-friendly law works. If your matter resolves well, consider telling the reform organisations tracking outcomes — anonymised patient experiences are part of what moves other parliaments. Our Reform Tracker follows every development.