Inverness sheriff warns of ‘total lottery’ of drug-driving
A motorcyclist was given a lecture by a sheriff on the "total lottery" of taking drugs and then driving the day after.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told 25-year-old Andrew Hillhouse, of Dunabban Road, Inverness "you shouldn't have been smoking cannabis in the first place" when he appeared before him to admit riding his machine with almost double the safe amount of a cannabis metabolite in his system.
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His reading was 3.7mcgs when the limit is 2mcgs.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard that police stopped him in Culduthel Avenue on the morning of March 25, last year because officers were concerned his visor was too dark.
Fiscal depute Martina Eastwood said: "They noticed a faint smell of cannabis and a drugs swipe proved positive. He told police he had been taking cannabis in the early hours of the morning."
Defending, Willie Young said: "It is a familiar story - taking the cannabis the previous day. He had been going to see his mother when he was stopped."
Sheriff Aitken ordered Hillhouse to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and banned him from driving for a year.
He told him: "It is impossible to tell when drugs leave your system. It depends upon the individual's metabolism. Drugs are a total lottery."
