No matter how you look at it, motor vehicles are part of summer festivals just like black light decoration, laser shows & co. Obviously, just about all cars, vans and motor homes have human drivers. These persons again attract the attention of the police, who care for their ability to drive- especially before and after Trance open airs. These pages offer some information about what’s worth knowing when getting into this situation.
First of all, you should really be fit to drive when taking the wheel. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is definitely totally silly and in no way acceptable! Also there is the nice side-effect that you really don’t have to be afraid of anything if you are pulled over by the police. Nevertheless the police will probably ask you to do a drug test, either checking your sweat or your urine for illegal substances. In most European countries there has to be an ‘initial suspicion’, which is some suspicious behaviour of yours. Thus you should avoid looking overtired while driving or even carrying illegal drugs in your car. Rule: Be and look sober. However, the phenomenon ‘initial suspicion’ is closely related to the phenomenon ‘officer whim’ which is to say that if the police claim you drove your car in a suspicious way, you really drove your car in a suspicious way- at least according to official records. Remain calm in such a situation and do avoid starting any discussions about this subject or to reprimand the officers in any way. Polite but firm! is the formula. For instance you should reject a sweat test (which is notorious for being very unreliable) or a urine test in a polite but firm way, if you feel that this procedure is unjustified or a means a humiliation for you. The same goes for so called ‘coordination tests’. But carefully: In Germany, for instance, you have the right to do so. Here only the blood test is legally valid, anyway. In the UK you can also reject these tests but this might count against you in court as is an offence to refuse. As you see, the regulations differ from country to country and if you want to play it really safe, get detailed information from a national party organisation. Furthermore there is something you should be aware of even when driving perfectly sober and sharp: Intoxicating substances can be detected in several body fluids for different amounts of time and since yet there are no threshold values, the final question will be: Substance detected or not detected? Have a look at the tables for more detailed information.
The rules and regulations for traffic and drug controls differ from country to country. Thus also the laws and duties of a car driver differ. If you are a citizen of the EU you should be aware that authorities collaborate and that a fine for driving a car under the influence of THC might not be the end of the story: Probably your local authority responsible for your driver’s license will pick up the issue after some weeks, so be prepared for that.
Last but not least some good news: There is currently a study going on to set a threshold value for THC just like there is one for alcohol. If there are utilisable results, we may hope for an EU-wide regulation in the near future.