Drug driving penalties
It's an offence in the Northern Territory (NT) to drive if you have a prohibited drug in your body, measured by police using a saliva or blood test.
Police can direct you to submit to a saliva or blood test in any of the following situations:
- you are pulled over to submit an alcohol breath test
- you are pulled over for the purpose of a random saliva test for drugs
- the officer believes you have committed an offence of driving with a drug in your body or driving under influence of alcohol or a drug
- the officer reasonably suspects you have been involved in a crash on a road, road-related area or public place.
A second offence for drug driving is when you have in the past been found guilty of:
- driving under the influence of alcohol - read about drink driving penalties
- driving under the influence of a prohibited drug
- failing to submit a saliva test for the purpose of detecting whether a prohibited drug is present in your body
- failing to submit a blood or breath test for analysis for the presence of alcohol in your body.
Prohibited drug in body | Minimum licence disqualification | Maximum fine amount | Maximum term of imprisonment |
|---|---|---|---|
First offence | N/A | $400 traffic infringement notice or Court ordered fine of 5 penalty units | 3 months |
Second offence | 3 months | $400 traffic infringement notice or Court ordered fine of 7.5 penalty units | 6 months |
Subsequent offence | 6 months | $400 traffic infringement notice or Court ordered fine of 7.5 penalty units | 6 months |
To find out more about penalty units and other offences read traffic offences and penalties.
For full details on the penalties read the Traffic Act 1987.
Last updated: 10 July 2019