DRUGS AND DRIVING. Abstract

Transcription

1 Janusz STANISZEWSKI Voivodship Headquarters of Police in Gdansk Wojciech KUSTRA Gdansk University of Technology DRUGS AND DRIVING Abstract The study presents a new hazard, i.e. driving vehicles by drug users. In the second section the applicable sanctions have been described provided in the law on road traffic. The description contains also a specification of toxicants that cannot be used by drivers. The third part presents studies conducted in Poland and Germany that reveal the magnitude of this problem among drivers. The following section of the study describes measures of drug abuse control. The final part of the paper discusses the problem of drug detecting equipment shortages in police services and the need to train police officers and make amendments to law, which will facilitate the control and punishment of drug-using drivers. Introduction The history of drugs dates back to the early history of man. A correlation of a human being and a drug comes back again and again in history. There are no borders or continents that could stop this phenomenon. Drugs have been used in medicine or as an escape from reality by all nations and races. Every used drug has a particular influence on our brain. Different substances cause varied symptoms and behaviour of their users. In fact a layman will find it hard to predict the action of psychotropic drugs on a brain, therefore the risk of illegal drugs abuse is hard to estimate. Another problem occurs if a drug user is also a road user, which is related to the issue of a drug user s insanity. Today s pace of life and economic development of many countries require continuous mobility and higher efficiency, commitment and creativity. Many people cannot face such challenges and stimulate their organisms by taking drugs. The period of action of such substances and their mechanisms are also related to mobility in our society. As a result many people drive cars even though a drug has deprived them of an ability to do so. Considering the age of drug users, the problem concerns primarily young people aged 16-28, which makes it even more serious. In order to provide security of road traffic, police are obliged to fight against this phenomenon. Identifying drug abuse in road traffic is a challenge that has to be faced by police forces not only in Poland but in all EU countries, as drug consumption keeps growing in most of them. Law and drugs From a legal point of view driving after a drug use is prosecuted not only under regulations of road traffic law, as sanctions for driving under the influence of substances acting similarly to alcohol are provided for also in the Code of Offences and Penal Code. Law on road traffic, Article 45, prohibits ( ) driving vehicles, leading columns of pedestrians, riding a horse or driving animals by persons in a state of drunkenness, in a state after alcohol use or use of

2 substances acting similarly to alcohol ; this prohibition concerns also towing a vehicle driven by a person in a similar condition. Penal Code combines the state of drunkenness and an influence of intoxicants while driving a vehicle in one regulation (Article 178(a)), while the Code of Offences (Article 87) regards driving a vehicle by a person who has used alcohol or substances of similar action as identical. Other provisions of the Code of Offences (Article 86) sharpen the punishment for causing hazard in road traffic by a person, other than a driver, as a result of carelessness, if such a person is in a state of intoxication after use of alcohol or a substance of similar action. However, while the term alcohol and drunkenness are synonymous, in the case of substances that have an action similar to alcohol there is a wide variety of products. Such substances include: inhaled substances that cause a condition similar to intoxication and that result in the disability to drive vehicles (some volatile solvents, aerosols, volatile substances used in medicine); illegal drugs including, inter alia, substances obtained from cannabis (hashish, marihuana and their derivatives), obtained directly or partly synthetically from poppy (heroin, morphine and their derivatives), obtained from coca bush (cocaine and its derivatives), and finally a large number of substances produced synthetically: amphetamine and its derivatives and discotheque drugs such as ecstasy. They cause an inability to drive a vehicle due to bewilderment, losing the sense of reality, excessive excitement or slower reaction and apathy. After taking cocaine lights and stripes melt into one, road seems to be vanishing under wheels and a vehicle flows in air. Amphetamine accelerates a heart action and gives the feeling of improved memory and concentration; it excites and gives self-confidence. Drivers after amphetamine reach high speeds, while other road users are perceived as flickering points. hallucinogenic agents (LSD, mescaline, hallucinogenic mushrooms); they cause hallucinations, distort orientation and balance, cause inability to drive a vehicle, disturb the clearness of vision, give the feeling of a colour storm, distort the feeling of distance and result in losing the sense of time, particularly during intoxication. The Minister of Health in the Decree (RMZ, 2003) has listed the following substances that have action similar to alcohol and whose presence in an organism may be determined with a test: opiates amphetamine and similar cocaine tetrahydrocanabinoles benzodiazepines and barbiturates. One year after the Decree came into effect barbiturates were deleted from the list, as they often occur in various medications. Unfortunately medicine packaging does not always give warnings that driving is prohibited after taking such drugs. The fact that this substance is not given in the official list makes driving after taking barbiturates free of penal responsibility. If in doubt, a physician should be consulted. There is no threshold value in case of drug or intoxicating substances, unlike in the case of sobriety thresholds applicable for alcohol use. Even a small quantity of such substances leads to an inability to drive a vehicle. Such substances, particularly in the case of a long-lasting abuse, remain in a body for a much longer period than in the case of alcohol. It is noteworthy that even a small quantity of an illegal drug combined with another substance of similar action, e.g. alcohol or other drugs, may cause an interaction, intensification and synergy of effects that will multiply the negative impact, thus excluding any safe or correct participation in traffic. Diversity of intoxicating substances and illegal drugs makes it even more difficult to determine their presence in a body than in the case of alcohol. It is not clear when driving after abuse of such substances is an offence and when it becomes a crime. Driving motor vehicles in the state of drunkenness or under an influence of intoxicating substances is a

3 crime under the penalty of imprisonment up to 2 years, a custodial sentence and a fine up to PLN 720 thou. Additionally a court may adjudge discretionary damages for an institution or a foundation that provides assistance to road accident victims. Moreover courts prohibit driving vehicles for a period from 1 to 10 years (Article 178(a) of the Penal Code). On the other hand driving after the use of alcohol or another substance of similar action is an offence, under the penalty of 30 days of arrest, a fine and a ban to drive vehicles from 6 to 36 months. In the case of alcohol this difference is clear driving a vehicle is a crime with above 0.5 per mil of alcohol in blood. However it is not clear how to qualify driving after a drug abuse, as a specific threshold is missing in this regard. Everything depends on the interpretation of regulations and in many cases an opinion of an expert is necessary. Only an expert may assess if the substances used have had impact on driving a vehicle. If they have, a driver will be held responsible for a crime. Drugs and hazards in road traffic Psychological aspects of drugs and intoxicating substances abuse are not the object of this material, alike the consequences of drug addiction on physical and psychological health or even life of a user. Changes in consciousness caused by illegal drugs result in removing inhibitions, distorting perception processes, creating illusions, hallucinations and excitement, or the opposite suppression and sedation, indifference and apathy. Such changes exclude the possibility of conscious, safe, anticipating and coordinated driving. In available studies concerning Germany it has been ascertained that there are about 1500 fatalities per year in road accidents caused by drivers under the influence of an illegal drug, which is about 20% of all fatalities in road accidents in Germany. During routine controls police usually stop drivers under the influence of alcohol. In Pomorskie Voivodship 11.5 thou. drivers under the influence of alcohol were stopped in However some drivers forget that driving a vehicle under the influence of a substance of action similar to alcohol is also a violation of law. In Pomorskie Voivodship police officers stopped almost 40 drivers who were under the influence of such substances last year. Nevertheless the scale of the problem of driving after drugs may be much higher than the data presented. Research workers of Higher School of Humanities in Pułtusk conducted a survey on illegal drugs abuse among drivers that encompassed 611 persons. Respondents were divided into age and vocational groups. The results were in fact terrifying. 20% Results of blood tests 22% 58% No drugs One drug Two and more drugs

4 Figure 1. Results of blood test samples collected in Germany in 2003 from 171 drivers who had caused an accident or were drunk The most shocking results of the survey concerned the youngest drivers. In this age group more than 50% admitted driving a vehicle after taking a drug. Only well-trained and prepared police officers can determine symptoms of using an illegal drug or an intoxicating substance based on the behaviour of a driver in traffic and after that in a direct contact. Fast drug tests may assist police officers in detecting drug abuse. Such tests are applied on sweat, saliva or urine of a suspect and are used by police forces in many countries. However, they react to several most common substances and are not so simple and comfortable in use as breath analysers. Professional drivers 7% 6% 1% 76% More Nie Never than bioręonce a w eek W At ostatnim least once miesiącu Last Częściej month niż raz w tygodniu Co Last najm w eek niej raz W More ostatnim than once tygodniu a w eek Company car drivers 3% 55% 22%

5 17% Young drivers 22% 26% 25% More Nie Never than bioręonce a w eek W At ostatnim least once miesiącu Last Częściej month niż raz w tygodniu Co Last najm w eek niej raz W More ostatnim than once tygodniu a w eek Figure 2. Results of a survey among 611 drivers in Poland Polish regulations provide for the possibility of a saliva test (by collecting a sample and placing it in a device for determining content of such substances) and laboratory tests of urine and blood. Saliva tests are conducted in Pomorskie Voivodship with so-called fast tests financed by the Pomorska Road Safety Council. Tests are administered on drivers who have external symptoms of a drug abuse during control or if there are circumstances that justify the suspicion of using substances of action similar to alcohol. It is noteworthy that prohibited substances are many a time present in medications. Unfortunately medicine packaging does not always give a warning against driving after taking such medicine. In case of doubts a physician should be consulted. Importantly the responsibility is always with a driver. Alike in the case of syrups that contain alcohol, a driver cannot give an excuse that they did not realise that fact. Substances that act similarly to alcohol include e.g. intoxicating, psychotropic and pharmaceutical substances that inhibit a psychological and physical ability and may have an impairing effect. It is worth remembering that a police officer is entitled to: demand a driver or another person who is suspected of having driven a vehicle to undergo a test in order to determine the content of alcohol or a substance acting similarly to alcohol in his/her organism. Such a test may be conducted even against the will of a person, and a person should be warned to this effect, prevent a driver who is in the state of drunkenness or after the use of alcohol or a substance of similar influence from driving a car and to remove a vehicle from a road at the owner s cost, retain a driving license of a driver who is in the state of drunkenness or after the use of alcohol or a substance that acts like alcohol.

6 Figure 3. An example of a drug test used in Poland Summary Results of surveys conducted by research workers of Higher School of Humanities in Pułtusk in 2005 indicated that a problem of driving after illegal drug abuse is significant. This is confirmed by experiences of other countries, e.g. Germany. Taking radical measures may result in diagnosing the problem and restricting this phenomenon. It is high time in Poland to start drug tests among drivers. First a few problems have to be solved: police should be provided with so-called fasts tests (saliva), regulations concerning tests should be amended to simplify the qualification of an act without appointing an expert, police officers should be trained as regards detecting drivers under the influence of drugs. References Moeller, Maurer (2003): Wykrywanie substancji narkotycznych we krwi kierowców. Materiały szkoleniowe dla uczestników szkolenia, Legionowo. RMZ (2003): Rozporządzenie. Min. Zdrowia z dnia 11 czerwca 2003 r., w sprawie wykazów środków działających podobnie do alkoholu oraz warunków i sposobu przeprowadzania badań na ich obecność w organizmie. Dz. U. Nr. 116 poz UPRD: Prawo o ruchu drogowym. Ustawa z dnia 20 czerwca 1997 r., tekst jedn. Nr 58, poz. 515, Dz. U. z 2004 r. Nr 92, poz. 88. UKK (1997): Kodeks Karny. Ustawa z dnia 6 czerwca 1997 r., tekst jedn. Dz. U. z 1997 r., Nr 88, poz. 553.