The Drager 5000 mobile drug testing units are being rolled out across the state with a number of Shoalhaven police training on the new equipment this week.

The Drager allows police to gain a positive or negative reading on cannabis and methamphetamines, in the form of speed, ecstasy or ice, in under 10 minutes, if a motorist has returned an initial positive roadside test.

It is often said the best way to learn something new is to dive in the deep end and actually use it – and that’s what officers have been doing over the past few days.

As well as learning how to operate the new equipment, local police were on the streets stopping vehicles and undertaking roadside drugs tests as part of an operation.

From 48 tests in six hours on Tuesday, 11 positive readings were recorded.

That’s one in four, which is certainly concerning, and not good enough from the road users of our area.

Hopefully with this portable machine now permanently based in the Shoalhaven, it will lead to police being able to crack down heavily on the extremely dangerous practice of driving while under the influence of illicit drugs.

When the unit was introduced in Queanbeyan recently, 55 drivers were detected in the first week and officers are now catching around four a day on average. 

Expect similar numbers in the Shoalhaven – especially after the number of charges recently, close to 40 people, for the supply and possession of drugs by Strike Force Croci.

With those sorts of results, which police say are just the tip of the iceberg, it is not a surprise there are so many people behind the wheels of cars while under the influence of drugs.

As police have stated, the operation to rid our streets of these drugs will continue, aiming to making our roads a safe place.

With each police vehicle in the Shoalhaven now having the capability to undertake random drug tests, be warned, if you intend to drive while under the influence of illicit drugs, it is now not a question of if you will get caught – but when.