Drug driving penalties in QLD depend on which charge you face

Drug driving in Queensland covers two separate offences that sit a long way apart, and almost everything that matters about your situation is decided by which one is written on your paperwork.

People often get several weeks into worrying about this without ever establishing which charge they have, so if you do one thing after reading this, check that.

The two drug driving offences in QLD

The first is driving with a relevant drug present, which is the saliva one. The question is whether one of the tested substances was in your system, and how much was there, or whether it affected your driving, does not matter, because it is a presence offence with zero tolerance.

The second is driving under the influence of a drug, which is the more serious of the two. It is about your ability to drive being affected, and it usually involves a blood specimen rather than saliva.

The practical gap between the two offences is as wide as it gets, and the clearest example is that a work licence can be available for the first and is not available for the second.

What a first offence drug driving charge usually involves

For most people the sequence starts with a roadside saliva test, a positive result, a second sample, and then a wait while the samples go to a laboratory. Your licence is suspended for 24 hours on the spot.

We cover the testing process itself, including what a positive result does and does not prove, in our piece on roadside drug testing.

What happens to your licence after that first day depends on the charge and on whether you already have something on foot. Being charged with driving with a relevant drug present does not by itself suspend your licence. Where you have pending charges, it is suspended immediately.

What the court decides

Where the charge is presence, there is often little to dispute about the fact of it, and the hearing turns on everything around the plea.

Three things are in play at the hearing. The court sets the penalty, which may be a fine or something else the court can impose. It decides whether a conviction is recorded, which is a separate decision and depends on what the court is told about your circumstances. Your disqualification follows the conviction rather than being argued about, with the magistrate setting the length inside the range the law allows.

Nobody can tell you what a court will do in your matter before reading the material, and you should treat confident predictions with suspicion.

Can you get a work licence for drug driving?

Whether a work licence is possible turns entirely on the charge. One can be available where the charge is driving with a relevant drug present, provided you also meet the general eligibility rules. Those rules are strict and they exclude people for things that have nothing to do with drugs, including having been on a zero alcohol limit licence at the time, having been driving for work when it happened, or having any licence suspension, cancellation or disqualification in the previous five years.

A work licence is not available where the charge is driving under the influence of a drug. From 1 December 2026 it is also not available for the combined offence of driving with a drug present and alcohol over the limit. Our page on work licence and hardship applications covers what the application involves and why it has to be built before your court date.

Penalties from 1 December 2026

Four things touch drug driving from 1 December 2026.

The maximum penalty for driving with a relevant drug present is double what it was before that date. A maximum is the ceiling for the worst version of an offence rather than the ordinary outcome, so this is not a statement about what happens in any particular matter.

Where a court deals with your matter by way of a fine, the fine has to be at least a set minimum.

The shortest disqualification a court can impose for a first drug driving offence on an open licence is longer than it was before that date. The top of that range is unchanged.

And driving with a drug present and alcohol over the limit at the same time is a combined offence, carrying extra disqualification and no work licence.

There is more detail in our piece on the new drug driving laws.

Refusing a test is two different offences

The two refusal offences are constantly run together, so it pays to be precise about them. Refusing the screening test at the roadside is one offence, with its own maximum.

Failing to provide a specimen for analysis, after a police officer has required it, is a separate and more serious matter. It is treated as the same offence as driving under the influence, which brings the disqualification consequences of that offence with it, and means no work licence.

If a refusal is part of your matter, establish which one is on your paperwork before you assume anything about where you stand.

Medicinal cannabis and prescriptions

Queensland's zero tolerance position applies whether or not you hold a lawful prescription, and the 1 December changes do not alter it. A prescription does not take you outside the presence offence for THC.

If you are prescribed medicinal cannabis and you drive, that is a situation to get specific advice about rather than one to assume your way through.

Common questions

Is drug driving a criminal offence in QLD?

Yes. Both drug driving offences are criminal offences dealt with in a criminal court. Whether you end up with a criminal record is a separate question that depends on whether the magistrate records a conviction.

What happens for a first offence drug driving charge?

Your licence is suspended for 24 hours at the roadside, your samples go to a laboratory, and you are given a court date. At court the magistrate deals with the penalty, decides whether to record a conviction, and disqualifies you for a period within the range set for the offence.

Does feeling sober help?

Not for a presence charge. The offence is drafted around whether the substance was there, not whether it affected you. That is also why people who used days earlier are caught by it.

Will I go to jail for drug driving?

Imprisonment sits within the range for these offences, which is not the same as saying it is what happens in any particular case. What a court does depends on the facts and the history in front of it, and nobody can tell you that before reading your material.

Which drugs does the roadside test cover?

Four substances, and our piece on roadside drug testing sets them out along with what the test does and does not establish.

If you have been charged in Cairns

The charge wording decides your options, and the things that can be done about your licence are mostly decided by preparation before your first court date rather than on the day.

We act in drug driving and traffic matters in Cairns and across Far North Queensland. If you are waiting on a laboratory result or you have a date coming up, we can go through what it means for you.

If you have been charged with drug driving in Cairns, speak with us before your first court date rather than after it.