Roadside Drug Testing w/ University of Otago's Dr Geoff Noller: 1 December, 2025

This month, the government will begin a roll out of roadside drug testing, starting in Wellington. The move is aimed at tackling road safety concerns around the impairment of drivers on substances such as marijuana, methamphetamine, Cocaine, and MDMA, among others.

While this aim is noble, concerns have been raised over the effectiveness of these tests at controlling impairment – compared to alcohol, Marijuana remains detectable in the system for far longer, raising concerns for those using medical marijuana, and potentially those using New Zealand's most common illicit drug.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke to a Research Fellow at the department of primary healthcare and rural health at the Dunedin School of Medicine, Dr Geoffrey Noller, about this testing, and what problems around impairment and drug usage remain.