List no. 03 · Room 3 · Medicines
Medicinal cannabis and driving
In most states and territories it is an offence to drive with THC in your system even when it comes from a prescribed cannabis medicine. Tasmania’s law is the exception, Victoria lets magistrates decide whether a prescribed patient loses their licence, and New South Wales has passed a registration scheme that is not yet in force.
General information
This page explains the law in general terms. It is not legal advice, and it cannot tell you what to do in your own matter. Your prescriber or pharmacist can tell you what your medicine contains; for the law, check your state’s transport department page or ask Legal Aid.
The national starting point
The Therapeutic Goods Administration, which regulates medicines nationally, sets out the position for patients: many medicinal cannabis products contain THC, THC can impair your ability to drive, and you can be charged if THC is found in your body while driving, whether or not you have a prescription. It adds that products which do not list THC as an ingredient may still contain traces of it, and that each state and territory has different rules.
The distinction that matters most is between THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and cannabidiol (CBD). Transport Victoria explains that CBD is not psychoactive and does not have the same impairing effects as THC, though it can still cause drowsiness and fatigue, and that a person taking a CBD-only medicine can legally drive in Victoria as long as they are not impaired.
State by state
| State | The position, in the government’s words | Official page |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | It remains an offence to drive after taking THC, regardless of source. A reform for registered patients passed on 17 September 2026 and has not yet commenced. | Transport for NSW: Medical cannabis |
| VIC | It is an offence to drive with THC in your system, even with a valid prescription. Since 1 March 2025, magistrates have discretion over cancelling the licence of a prescribed patient who was not impaired; this does not guarantee the licence is kept. | Transport Victoria: Medicinal cannabis and driving |
| QLD | It is illegal to drive if you are being treated with medical cannabis that contains THC, and a valid prescription cannot be used to defend a charge after a positive roadside test. The state’s Drug Driving Review concluded that no changes should be made. | Queensland Government: Medicinal cannabis |
| WA | It is an offence to drive with THC present, whether it comes from prescribed medicinal cannabis or illicit cannabis. | HealthyWA: Cannabis |
| SA | SA Health says patients should not drive or operate machinery while being treated with medicinal cannabis, and that drug driving is a criminal offence. | SA Health: Medicinal cannabis FAQ |
| TAS | A person does not commit the offence of driving with a prescribed illicit drug present if the drug was obtained and administered in accordance with the Poisons Act 1971. | Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1970, section 6A |
| ACT | Zero tolerance applies; roadside tests screen for cannabis containing THC, and the ACT’s personal use of cannabis laws do not change that. In March 2026 the government said a change for medicinal cannabis patients would be pursued only with comprehensive evidence. | ACT City Services: Drink and drug driving |
| NT | The NT Government page makes it an offence to drive with a prohibited drug in your body and sets out no exception for prescriptions. | NT.GOV.AU: Drug driving penalties |
New South Wales: the registered patient scheme
The Road Transport Legislation Amendment (Medical Cannabis and Driving Offences) Bill 2026 was passed on 17 September 2026. Transport for NSW says it has not yet come into effect while police and transport systems are changed, and that commencement is anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027. Until it starts, the current law applies to everyone.
Once it does, this is how Transport for NSW describes it.
Registering is voluntary, and the only way in
A patient must hold an unrestricted NSW licence, show proof of a valid prescription on application and renewal, and complete an online education program on cannabis and driving. Registration appears on the licence record and the digital licence.
Not every driver can register
The scheme is not available to drivers on learner, provisional or interlock licences, people driving a bus, taxi, rideshare vehicle or certain heavy or dangerous goods vehicles, or driving instructors at work.
The roadside is unchanged
Registered patients are still tested, and a positive roadside result still brings a 24-hour driving ban, because the concentration of a drug is not known at the roadside.
The laboratory decides
After the laboratory result, a registered driver is exempt from the presence offence if THC is present, but a new offence applies if THC is above a defined amount. If other drugs or alcohol are also found, the existing offences apply.
Warnings, then penalties
A first or second detection under the new offence brings a warning letter. A third positive detection within two years is an offence, with penalties including loss of licence.
Impairment and serious crashes stay as they are
Registered patients remain liable for driving while impaired, and are not exempt from blood and urine testing after a fatal crash.
Victoria: discretion, not an exemption
Victoria has not changed the offence. Driving with any detectable amount of THC is still an offence, and if you test positive to THC at the roadside you will be ordered not to drive for at least 12 hours. What changed on 1 March 2025 is what a magistrate may do: they now have discretion over whether to cancel the licence of a driver with a valid prescription who was not impaired. Victoria Legal Aid describes the same exception: where a driver tests positive for cannabis but has a valid prescription, the magistrate can decide whether to suspend the licence.
Transport Victoria also reminds drivers that anyone involved in a crash causing death or injury must give a blood sample, and that THC found in blood can be used as evidence and may affect insurance claims.
Tasmania: the wording of the law
Tasmania’s Road Safety (Alcohol and Drugs) Act 1970 makes it an offence to drive with a prescribed illicit drug in your blood or oral fluid, and then says, in section 6A(2):
“A person does not commit an offence against subsection (1) if the prescribed illicit drug was obtained and administered in accordance with the Poisons Act 1971.”
The same Act keeps a separate offence, in section 4, of driving under the influence of a drug to the extent of being incapable of proper control of the vehicle. Whether a particular prescription and its use meet the Poisons Act is a legal question; a Tasmanian lawyer or Tasmania Legal Aid can answer it for a specific case.
Talking it through with your prescriber
The official advice to patients points the same way. The TGA says to discuss your driving needs with your health practitioner. Transport Victoria suggests thinking about driving before treatment starts, checking the THC content stated on the product with the prescriber or pharmacist, and buying through legitimate channels so that a product said to be THC-free really is. HealthyWA recommends that people using medicinal cannabis do not drive.
For the wider question of medicines and driving, see prescription medicines and driving.