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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Drugs As Dangerous As Drink On The Road
Alan MacDermid The Herald, Glasgow
Tuesday 12 Mar 2002 DOCTORS' leaders called for urgent action yesterday to combat the threat from drivers who are under the influence of drugs. Both illicit drugs and commonly used medicines could affect a person's ability to drive safely in the same way as alcohol, said the British Medical Association. It is calling on the government and the Scottish Parliament to speed up research into drug testing devices for use in road traffic settings, and to embark on a public education and awareness campaign. The number of people in-volved in fatal road accidents who tested positive for cannabis had increased fourfold - from 3% to 12% - between the 1980s and 1990s, with detection of illegal drugs overall increasing from 3% to 18%, the BMA said. The organisation warned that this number could rise, given the increasing use of drugs, citing a drug misuse statistics report for last year indicating that 36% of 16 to 24-year-olds in Scotland said that they had taken drugs. In a separate Scottish Executive survey of clubbers, 69% had taken cannabis and 85% of these had at some time driven after using illegal drugs. However, not only illicit drug users were a hazard. "Millions of people regularly take drugs such as anti-depressants, painkillers, antihistamines and cough mixtures, all of which can have a sedative effect," said Bill O'Neill, Scottish secretary of the BMA. "However, a balance needs to be struck between the symptoms of an illness and the risk of the effects of taking medication. For example, the sedative risk of antihistamines needs to be balanced against the risks of driving with watering eyes and sneezing. When in doubt, advice should be sought." Assessing the effects of drugs on driving ability would have to take account of levels of drugs in the body, degrees of impairment and how long a drug remained in the body. So also would the added effects of alcohol when the two were combined. The BMA said cannabis - the most frequently detected illicit drug in road deaths - was known to impair co-ordination, visual perception, tracking and vigilance. Yet findings relating the effects of cannaboids on driving skills and road safety were not conclusive. The fact that cannabis could be found in the blood as long as 28 days or even longer after last use demonstrated how difficult it would be to predict that the driver's ability was adversely affected by the drug. Dr O'Neill said: "People generally accept that you shouldn't drink and drive, but probably have no idea about the effects of drugs on their driving ability. "Driving while unfit under the influence of drugs is an offence and a driver faces the same penalties as those who drive under the influence of alcohol." However, the law did not state any legal limit for drugs as it does for alcohol. It was very difficult to enforce legislation, as there were no drug testing devices that could effectively prove driving impairment due to drugs, the BMA said. John Rankin, a member of the BMA's Scottish GP committee and a police surgeon in the Forth valley area, said: "We are seeing an increase in drug-driving incidents in Scotland. Roadside testing is being piloted in this area where the driver has to complete a number of simple tests to ascertain if they are under the influence of drugs. These tests are not conclusive." The executive said the BMA was right to highlight drug-driving as a worrying problem. It has made 350,000 extra available to the police over the next three years to allow them to analyse more drug samples from drivers. "In addition, the Home Office is currently developing a drug equivalent to the breathalyser." The drug tester may be in the development stages, but scientists yesterday day unveiled a new gadget designed to alert drivers when they have had too much to drink. The in-car device monitors drivers' hand-eye co-ordination to keep a check on their alertness to see if they are fit to be at the wheel.
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