Drug and Driving: A Compendium of Research Studies
Annotated Sources (cont'd)
Ireland
43. Cusack, D. A., Harrington, G., Furney, P., Flynn, K., and Leavy, C. P. (2002)
Driving under the influence of drugs in Ireland: A growing and significant danger. In D. R. Mayhew and C. Dussault (Eds.) Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety. Quebec: Société de l’Assurance Automobile du Québec.
Overview
Study of drug prevalence in a group of suspected drivers in Ireland
Type of study, population(s) and proportion tested
Suspected drugged drivers from 1998 to 2002
N=2000
Drugs examined (threshold values for detection)
- Amphetamines (300 ng/ml)
- Methamphetamines (300 ng/ml)
- Benzodiazepines (100 ng/ml)
- Cannabinoids (20 ng/ml)
- Cocaine (100 ng/ml)
- Opiates (100 ng/ml)
- Methadone (25 ng/ml)
- Alcohol
Method of testing and medium used
Blood or urine samples
Drug analysis carried out by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety
Other dependent variables
Findings (including statistical methods)
Of the 1000 below the legal limit of alcohol, 26% tested positive for drugs
Of the 1000 above the legal limit of alcohol, 13% tested positive for drugs
Overall, 20% (391) of the 2000 were drug positive
Of the 391 confirmed analyses, 36% were positive for more than one drug
Most common drugs were cannabinoids (8-16%), followed by benzodiazepines (3-8%)
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