Drug Driving Ads Subject of Formal Complaint

university-of-canterbury

Thu Feb 18 2010 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Drug Driving Ads Subject of Formal Complaint

Thursday, 18 February 2010, 9:48 am
Press Release: University of Canterbury

Drug Driving Ads Subject of Formal Complaint

A formal complaint has been laid with the Advertising Standards Authority against the advertisements about new drug driving laws. The advertisement shows a police officer pulling over a car of young people, finding the driver had not been drinking and saying that he is now required to come with the officer to undergo a drug test.

The complaint alleges a breach of the standard of truthful presentation in that it ‘creates the false impression that a police officer can require a driver to undergo a drug test at the whim of that police officer’.

The complainant, Canterbury University academic David Small, notes that section 71 (A)(1) of the Land Transport Amendment Act 2009 requires an enforcement officer to have ‘good cause to suspect’ that a driver is on drugs. He says that the advertisement gives the impression that drivers who are sober, young, not white and enjoying themselves at night can be required to undergo a drugs test when they have done nothing wrong.

Dr Small says that this presents false information and misleads the target population about what their rights are. ‘If people cannot exercise their rights they are effectively denied those rights’, he said.

Dr Small says that he personally knows a number of young people who having seen the ad, thought the police could drug test them for no reason whatsoever. He said that one effect of this ad would be to make young people less likely to agree to be the sober driver for the night.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from University of Canterbury on InfoPages.