BENDIGO police have intercepted 12 drivers high on drugs since Good Friday in a targeted road safety campaign.
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Officers are specifically targeting motorists with a drug history or drug connections, with ice the most common drug.
Acting Sergeant Kevyn Hume-Cook said the Don’t Drive Impaired operation had caught seven drug drivers during the Easter weekend and five since Wednesday.
“The most predominant drug we’re finding is methamphetamine, or ice,” he said.
“We’re specifically looking for drug drivers. Everyone we are drug testing we are also conducting preliminary breath tests as well.”
Officers had to pick up more testing devices due to the number of tests being carried out.
“The main thing is that if you’re driving on drugs, you will be tested at some stage,” Acting Sergeant Hume-Cook said.
“And you will be looking at losing your licence.
“We’re actively targeting people who are at high risk of drug use.”
Officers intercepted a 25-year-old Golden Square man on Wednesday and a 42-year-old Maryborough man on Thursday who both tested positive for ice.
A 29-year-old Mitcham man tested positive for ice and cannabis after being intercepted in Bendigo on Friday, and a 30-year-old Eaglehawk man tested positive for meth in California Gully two hours later.
Officers intercepted a 30-year-old Long Gully man on Holdsworth Road on Saturday afternoon who also tested positive for ice.
Victoria Police statistics show a 31 per cent rise in drug possession and use offences from 2011/12 to 2012/13.
Officers detected four drug drivers during a TAC campaign running between November 2012 to May 2013.
"The more tests we do, the more positives we are going to get," he said.
"So we're increasing the number of tests we're doing and we do expect to be catching more drivers.
"We're also using the intelligence that we're gathering to target specific drug drivers and people with drug associations.
"If people have any involvements in drugs at all we'll be looking for those people to test.
"But we're still doing random testing for people who have never had any involvement with drugs."
In other weekend police news, a 49-year-old motorcyclist had his licence immediately suspended after being caught riding 43kmh over the speed limit in Goornong. A 59-year-old man was also detected traveling almost 30kmh over the speed limit.