With anything related to driving, Dutch law is merciless. Regardless of whether you are fit to drive or not, the law dictates that if you have THC in your blood, you will pay. Why this does not actually help road safety is explained in an exclusive multi-part series from the Cannabis News Network. In Part 3, the focus is on how the new law came about.
Since 1 July 2017, police have been testing drivers not only for alcohol but also for other substances such as amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis. Anyone who is over a given limit will face sanctions. Something that sounds sensible in theory turns out in practice to be a damp squib. But first let us take a look back.
In the past, the situation was that if there was any suspicion of drug use, the police would question the driver. Drivers who admitted consumption had to hand over their driving licence, which was sent to the Dutch Driving Licence Authority, the Centraal Bureau Rijvaardigheidsbewijzen (CBR). This was the start of a bureaucratic nightmare.