A TOTAL of 10 drivers have tested positive for illicit substances in just one day of random roadside drug testing in Queanbeyan this week.
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The testing was part of a police training session and now takes the number to 136 of positive drug tests on Monaro Local Area Command (LAC) roads since the start of 2013.
It could take up to six weeks for samples to be analysed in a Sydney laboratory for marijuana, ice or ecstasy.
Drivers whose samples are confirmed positive will be notified they will face Queanbeyan court.
The commander of the NSW police Random Drug Testing Unit, Ins-pector Steve Blair, stresses the testing is "100 per cent driven by the promotion of road safety.
"Around the state, 16 per cent of drivers killed in vehicle collisions have illegal drugs in their system," he said.
Statewide the statistics this calendar year are 32,000 roadside tests for 3000 positives.
Inspector Blair said the 10 drivers found positive out of a total of 34 tested on Queanbeyan roads on Tuesday were picked up by the time the second day of training wrapped up before 4pm.
On Monday, 20 Monaro LAC officers were trained in the process.
Drivers are invited to swab a small blue applicator with two tiny pads along the length of their tongues to provide samples for drug analysis for the presence of methamphetamine and tetrahydro-cannabinol or THC.
"Since the start of 2013, we've done 1600 tests in [the] Monaro command returning 126 positives up to today," Inspector Blair said on Tuesday.
Queanbeyan was part of a regional rollout to train general duties police as well as highway patrols, sharing information and using the same technology as the adjacent Hume LAC and Canberra.
"Drivers stopped for an offence are also likely to be subjected to a drug test," Inspector Blair said.
Police also have the discretion to conduct random roadside drug tests in the same manner as breath tests for alcohol, without the suspicion that an-other offence may have been committed.