People caught drink or drug driving more than once will be forced to do a rehabilitation course if they want to get their licence back, under new laws passed by South Australia's Parliament.
Previously, repeat offenders were forced to sit a drug dependency test, and those who failed were directed into rehab courses.
The new laws move away from the dependency test, meaning any repeat offenders must do the course.
It was a win for the Opposition, which was pushing for the amendment to road traffic laws.
"We were extremely keen to get a result on inserting rehabilitation as a key mechanism to change driver behaviour when we see repeat drink and drug drivers on our roads," Opposition police spokesman Stephan Knoll said.
The amendment was a part of a deal with the Government, which saw the Opposition backflip on its support for a Dignity party amendment to allow medicinal cannabis users to drive.
Dignity MLC Kelly Vincent reacted angrily in Parliament to the backflip, saying she was hoping for a mature debate on the issue.
"Call me crazy but I don't think that's too much to ask, so I'd just like to take this opportunity to deeply apologise to those people who've been let down by the cowardice of not only this Government but now this Liberal Opposition," Ms Vincent said.
"I would say that neither the Labor Party, the Government, nor the Liberal Opposition have the stomach for this debate, the stomach to stand up for people who are vulnerable and the stomach to stand up for people who are using a legal medical substance."
Mr Knoll said the compromise was necessary and he was committed to addressing the medicinal cannabis issue after the election.
"Whilst we're disappointed with that, the broader suite of measures that are now going to put in place, especially around increased access to rehabilitation for repeat drink and drug drivers, was extremely important and needed to get through," he said.
"We've given a commitment that if we're elected to government next March that this is an issue we're going to delve into more deeply to look at what is the most appropriate mechanism to deal with this issue."
