According to the Council, driving under the influence of drugs is punishable only if it creates danger

It was filed on January 28th there sentence number 10 of 2026 with which the Constitutional Court reformulates article number 187 of the Highway Code and, consequently, the effective punishment of those who get behind the wheel of a vehicle after taking drugs. Following the doubts expressed by three judges of merit on the legitimacy of the same (in particular the fears were linked to the possibility of sanctioning anyone who had taken a substance, even in a period prior to a road check, without any impact on road safety), the Consulta decided to redesign the parameters, indicating as punishable only those who create a situation of danger to traffic. A difference therefore compared to what was approved in 2024, given that in fact it will no longer be simply the results of the specific test that decree the possible punishment of a person, but it will be necessary to decree the actual dangerousness of the subject for the purposes of regular road traffic. Positivity for narcotic substances is ascertained with the preliminary narcotest via saliva sample and then validated by subsequent blood tests.

checks and tests, what changes

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In just over a year there have been some cases of license withdrawals due to a positive test found following a roadside check by the competent authorities. However, one of the doubts raised by the referring judges, with the support of the representatives of the Union of Italian Criminal Chambers and the Italian Association of Professors of Criminal Law, concerned the traces that remain present in the body even in the days following the intake of a substance. In practice, someone who has used drugs could test positive even after some time, not the influence of the same which has more effects such as to put road safety at risk. In fact, with this restrictive modification, it will be necessary to ascertain the presence in the driver’s body fluids of quantities of narcotic substances which “due to their quality and quantity, in relation to the individual biological matrices in which they are found, are generally suitable, on the basis of current scientific knowledge, to determine in an average user an alteration of the psycho-physical conditions, and consequently of the normal ability to control the vehicle”.

the reply of mit and salvini

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For the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Court ruling certifies the validity of the new Highway Code which came into force on December 14, 2024. “The MIT welcomes the ruling of the Council which excluded it tout court the doubt about the constitutionality of the law – stated by the department of viale Nomentana, 2 – With regard to article 187 regarding driving under the influence of drugs, the Court limited itself to specifying that the concrete possibility of sanctioning those who drive under the influence of drugs depends on proof of the dangerousness of the behavior. In this regard, it is specified that the testing requirements requested by the Court are already satisfied under current legislation by the saliva test and then by the subsequent blood test”. On 25 January 2025 the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvinihe wrote to La Gazzetta dello Sport to respond to a previous article which indicated the types of drugs which, with the previous version of the law, could have led to a positive result in the tests required by the reform of the Highway Code. “A measure of common sense – wrote the deputy prime minister -, loudly requested by those who work on our roads every day and often lose their lives due to the irresponsibility of others; previously the Highway Code spoke of an “evident state of alteration” to be linked to the taking of drugs while driving, a formula almost impossible to implement concretely and which made checks by the police difficult and ineffective. The tests are not by chance: they are designed to identify very specific molecules: THC, opiates, cocaine, amphetamines. I anticipate the objection: some people could take some prohibited substances for therapeutic purposes, such as cannabis. But in these cases it will be sufficient to show medical documentation.” Today the leader of the League claims the numbers obtained in the first thirteen months after the entry into force of the new Highway Code. “For Minister Salvini – we read in the MIT note – road safety comes before anything else and this objective is giving the first encouraging results with 121 fewer deaths in 2025 compared to 2024 and 2,411 licenses withdrawn for driving after taking drugs”.