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UK: Essex: Drivers face drugs tests

Fred Hammerton

The Essex Chronicle

Saturday 17 Mar 2001

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Drivers in Essex are to face roadside drugs tests by police.
The move to combat drug-driving will begin in the summer after 250 officers
and 50 police surgeons have been trained.
Traffic operations manager Chief Inspector Tom Diment said: "We will, for
the first time, be fighting on the front line to clamp down on drivers who
take drugs.
"For years, we have been taking part in campaigns to reduce drink-driving.
This will now be allied to combat drug-driving."
Mobile Support Unit officers are expected to begin roadside tests in the
summer.
Although no Essex figures are available, the Association of Chief Police
Officers believes that, nationally, 700 road deaths a year could be linked
to drugs.
Essex Police Training School will provide comprehensive training for all
the officers involved
No piece of equipment has yet been devised for an accurate roadside test,
so officers will use other methods, some of which were used years ago to
check for alcohol:

1. Walk in a straight line for a number of specified paces, counting out
loud and looking at your feet. Those drug-impaired will lose count or
wander off the line.
2. Stand on one leg, eyes closed. Tilt head back and touch nose three times
with index finger of one hand, then the other. The drug-impaired will fail
this.
3. Stare ahead while officer compares the size of a pupil with those on a
chart. The drug-impaired could have small pupils or dilated ones, depending
on which drug was taken.
4. Eyes closed, estimate when 30 seconds have passed. The drug-impaired
find time difficult to determine.

In a pilot scheme, Derbyshire Police arrested 35 drivers with 31 positive
drug samples, the majority involving heroin or cannabis.
If an Essex officer decides a driver has failed a test, he or she will be
arrested and taken to a police station to give a blood or urine sample.

 

 

 

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