NT's new drink-and-drug driving laws — nothing for patients
The Finocchiaro Government's Traffic Legislation Amendment (Drink and Drug Driving and Hooning) Bill 2026 (Serial 76) passed the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on 13 October 2026. Announcing passage, the Government listed what the package does:
- passive roadside breath screening with a handheld device
- a new combined offence for drivers detected with both a high-range blood alcohol concentration and drugs in their system, carrying stronger penalties — news reporting put the maximum fine at about $9,700 and imprisonment at up to two years
- vehicle impoundment for 14 days for a second high-range drink or combined drink-and-drug driving matter
- a new serious-hooning tier — dangerous driving, dangerous speed and pursuit offences — with immediate impoundment of 7 days (first), 14 (second) and 28 (third)
- interstate drink- and drug-driving offences counting as prior offences under NT law
For medicinal cannabis patients, the package changes nothing. THC remains a strictly prohibited drug in the Territory: driving with any detectable THC is an offence regardless of prescription, and the Traffic Act's section 29 defence does not extend to THC — nor, as the Legislative Scrutiny Committee noted in its report on the Bill (tabled 7 October 2026), to the new combined offence. The Committee observed the national movement on presence-based offences — citing NSW's now-assented registration Act and committee recommendations in WA and SA — and recommended the Government give the medicinal cannabis question further consideration. The Government's response was tabled on 13 October 2026; the package as passed contains no patient defence.
Until assent and commencement are confirmed, the current law stands: presence offence, infringement or court, disqualification and imprisonment as the penalties page sets out. See the Northern Territory page for the current position, and the tested-positive guide if it is already too late for that.