Defence (Amendment) Act 2024
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Regulations relating to testing for controlled drugs and psychoactive substances | ||
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12. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 117: | ||
“117A. (1) A member of the Defence Forces shall be subject to drug testing in accordance with regulations made under this section. | ||
(2) The Minister may in relation to members of the Defence Forces make regulations to provide for the establishment, maintenance and operation of a regime of testing for controlled drugs and psychoactive substances which may provide for— | ||
(a) subject to paragraph (b), a prohibition on the presence of controlled drugs or psychoactive substances above a specified concentration in a sample, | ||
(b) the procedure to be followed where a member of the Defence Forces is exposed to a controlled drug or psychoactive substance in the course of and as a result of his or her duties, | ||
(c) the taking of samples, | ||
(d) a prohibition on tampering with a sample, | ||
(e) the persons who may be permitted to take a sample, | ||
(f) the information to be provided to a member of the Defence Forces required to provide a sample, | ||
(g) matters with regard to the testing and analysis of samples, | ||
(h) the reasons for testing, which may include— | ||
(i) random testing, or | ||
(ii) targeted drug testing, | ||
(i) the concentration of a controlled drug or psychoactive substance required to be present to yield a positive result in a sample, | ||
(j) how samples are to be stored, | ||
(k) the period during which samples may be stored, | ||
(l) the reviewing of test results, | ||
(m) the consequences that may apply to a member of the Defence Forces who refuses or fails to provide a sample, | ||
(n) the consequences that may apply to a member of the Defence Forces where a positive result is yielded in his or her sample, and | ||
(o) such ancillary, incidental, consequential or supplemental provisions as he or she considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of establishing, maintaining and operating the regime of testing for controlled drugs and psychoactive substances. | ||
(3) Regulations under this section may prescribe differently for different circumstances or cases, classes or types. | ||
(4) In this section— | ||
‘controlled drug’ has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 ; | ||
‘psychoactive substance’ has the same meaning as it has in the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 ; | ||
‘sample’ means a sample of any of the following taken, or to be taken, from a person: | ||
(a) urine; | ||
(b) hair, other than pubic hair; | ||
(c) oral fluid, including saliva; | ||
(d) blood.”. |