Land Transport Act 1998

Fees and charges

Schedule 5: Blood concentration levels for offences related to drug driving

You could also call this:

"How much of a drug is too much to drive safely in New Zealand"

The Land Transport Act 1998 has rules about driving with drugs in your blood. You need to know what these rules are. The rules are about how much of a drug is allowed in your blood.

There are two types of levels: high-risk and tolerance. High-risk levels are the amounts of a drug that are considered too high to drive safely. Tolerance levels are the amounts of a drug that you can have in your blood without being considered impaired.

The levels are different for each drug, such as Alprazolam, Amphetamine, and THC (cannabis), as outlined in the tables in sections ss 2, 167AAA, and 167AAB of the Land Transport Act 1998.

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This page was last updated on 19 May 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS823266.

Topics:

Transport and travel > Driving

Schedule 4: New Parts 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 substituted in Schedule 2 of Transport Act 1962, or

"New parts added to the Transport Act 1962 to update the traffic laws"

5Blood concentration levels for offences related to drug driving Empowered by ss 2, 167AAA, 167AAB

1High-risk blood concentration levels for drug-driving offences

The following table is small in size and has 2 columns. Column 1 is headed Qualifying drug. Column 2 is headed High-risk level (ng/ml).
Qualifying drug		High-risk level (ng/ml)
Alprazolam		50
Amphetamine		100
Buprenorphine		1
Clonazepam		50
Cocaine		20
Codeine		200
Diazepam		200
Dihydrocodeine		200
Fentanyl		0.5
GHB		50,000
Ketamine		50
Lorazepam		30
MDMA		50
Methadone		200
Methamphetamine		50
Midazolam		30
Morphine		20
Nitrazepam		50
Oxazepam		800
Oxycodone		50
Temazepam		800
THC (cannabis)		3
Tramadol		250
Triazolam		4
Zopiclone		50

2Tolerance blood concentration levels for drug-driving offences

The following table is small in size and has 2 columns. Column 1 is headed Qualifying drug. Column 2 is headed Tolerance level (ng/ml).
Qualifying drug		Tolerance level (ng/ml)
Alprazolam		20
Amphetamine		20
Buprenorphine		1
Clonazepam		20
Cocaine		5
Codeine		50
Diazepam		100
Dihydrocodeine		50
Fentanyl		0.5
GHB		10,000
Ketamine		10
Lorazepam		10
MDMA		10
Methadone		50
Methamphetamine		10
Midazolam		10
Morphine		10
Nitrazepam		20
Oxazepam		200
Oxycodone		20
Temazepam		200
THC (cannabis)		1
Tramadol		100
Triazolam		4
Zopiclone		20