Australia's drug driving capital under the microscope

A crackdown on driving while high on drugs has residents of a NSW north coast town claiming they are being unfairly targeted by police.

In Lismore up to one in three drivers have tested positive for drugs in recent police operations.

More than 250 people have been hauled before Lismore District Court for drug driving in the past few months, with the court clogged by 70 people on drug charges on one day.

Acting Commander of the NSW Traffic and Highway Patrol Command, Stuart Smith, denies police are unfairly targeting Lismore, but insists attitudes in Australia's so-called drug driving capital need to change.

"Society has decided to use drugs, so we're now ramping up the random drug testing program," Mr Smith told A Current Affair.

"We will get to 100,000 tests in 2017. It's very simple, they need to stop."