Prevalence of psychoactive substances in Dutch and Belgian traffic

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of psychoactive substances in general traffic in The Netherlands and Belgium. Method: Randomly selected car drivers and drivers of small vans in six police regions in The Netherlands and five police regions in Belgium were included between January 2007 and August 2009. Blood and oral fluid samples were analyzed for 23 substances, including ethanol (alcohol), by means of ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry or gas chromatography mass spectrometry analysis. Samples were weighted according to the distribution of traffic over eight 6-hour periods. Substance groups were categorized in five mutually exclusive classes: single alcohol use, single illicit drug use, single medicinal drugs use, multiple drug use (including drugs from two or more separate substance groups but excluding alcohol), and drug use (either single or multiple) in combination with alcohol. Results: In total, 7,771 drivers (4,822 in The Netherlands and 2,949 in Belgium) were included in the study. In Belgium, the prevalence of single alcohol (6.4%) and single medicinal drugs (3.0%) was much higher than in The Netherlands (2.2% and 0.6%, respectively), whereas the single illicit drugs were more common in Dutch traffic (2.2%) than in Belgian traffic (0.6%). Compared with the estimated prevalence of psychoactive substances in the general driving public in Europe, the prevalence in Belgium (10.7%) was greater than the European average (7.4%), and the prevalence in The Netherlands was below the European average (5.5%). Conclusions: The observed prevalence of psychoactive substances varies largely between The Netherlands and Belgium. Probable reasons for the differences are the higher level of alcohol enforcement in The Netherlands and nonresponse bias in the Belgian study (for illicit drugs in particular). Furthermore, cultural differences and variances in prescription policy could also be influential

Prevalence and risk of injury in Europe by driving with alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines

AbstractPrevalence and injury risk of driving with alcohol, illicit drugs and medicines have been estimated as part of the DRUID (Driving under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines) project of FP6.Prevalence in the driving population was based on roadside surveys in thirteen European countries, prevalence in seriously injured drivers and killed drivers on data from nine countries. Blood and/or saliva samples were collected and analysed for ethanol, amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis, illicit opiates, benzodiazepines, Z-drugs and medicinal opioids. The estimates were based on concentrations at and above equivalent cut-offs in blood and saliva, enabling the inclusion of both blood and saliva in the calculations. Drivers in traffic served as the control sample and seriously injured/killed drivers as the case sample for estimating the risk as calculated by means of odds ratios, adjusted for age and gender.The alcohol prevalence (concentrations ≥ 0.1g/L) was much higher than the prevalence of other drugs, with highest alcohol prevalence in all three study samples in the southern and western European countries. Combined alcohol/drug use and multiple drug use were far more common in accident-involved drivers than in drivers in traffic. The prevalence of other drugs was highest in the driving population in south Europe with THC as most common, whereas benzodiazepines dominated in the northern countries of Europe.Based on data from all involved countries, the risk of being seriously injured or killed significantly exceeded 1 for alcohol concentrations ≥ 0.5g/L and almost all other drugs. Odds ratios differ between age groups and countries, but overall, alcohol concentrations ≥ 1.2g/L together with combined alcohol/drug use had the highest odds-ratios, followed by alcohol concentrations between 0.8 and 1.2g/L and multiple drug use

Driving Under the Influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Medicines in Europe — findings from the DRUID project

The ‘state of the art’ review presents the results of the largest research project ever carried out in the EU on Driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol and medicines (the ‘DRUID’ project), which ran between 2006 and 201