Citation

Jones AW, Holmgren A, Ahlner J. Int. J. Drug Policy 2015; 26(8): 790-793.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden; Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Linköping, Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.04.011

PMID

26003926

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Amphetamine, and to a lesser extent the secondary amine methamphetamine, are major recreational drugs of abuse in Sweden. These central stimulant amines are identified in blood from roughly 50% of people arrested for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). However, much less information is available about the presence of amphetamine in blood of drivers killed in road-traffic crashes.

METHODS: This retrospective 10-year study (2001-2010) used a forensic toxicology database (TOXBASE) to retrieve information about road-traffic crashes when the driver had amphetamine and/or methamphetamine in autopsy blood. Forensic toxicology results were available from over 95% of all drivers killed on Swedish roads during this 10-year period.

RESULTS: Amphetamine was present in the blood of 106 drivers (3.9%) either alone or together with other psychoactive substances (e.g. alcohol, cannabis, diazepam, alprazolam, etc.). The vast majority of fatalities were male (95%) with a mean age (±standard deviation) of 37±11.4 years (range 16-67 years). The mean (median) and highest concentrations of amphetamine in femoral blood were 1.36mg/L (1.0mg/L) and 6.74mg/L, respectively. Many of the victims (75%) had been arrested previously for use of illicit drugs or DUID. The median number of previous arrests was 4 (range 0-83) and amphetamine or methamphetamine were among the drugs identified in blood samples from 89% of cases (0-100%).

CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of repeat DUID offending and/or use of illicit drugs among the drivers killed in road-traffic crashes suggests that an early intervention and treatment for stimulant abuse might have been more beneficial than conventional punishments for such drug-related crimes.

Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving; DUID; Ethanol impaired driving

Language: en