title: Drug use by tractor-trailer drivers.
abstract: Blood or urine samples or both were obtained from 317 of 359 randomly selected tractor-trailer drivers asked to participate in a driver health survey conducted at a truck weighing station on Interstate 40 in Tennessee. Altogether, 29% of the drivers had evidence of alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, prescription or nonprescription stimulants, or some combination of these, in either blood or urine. Cannabinoids were found in 15% of the drivers' blood or urine; nonprescription stimulants such as phenylpropanolamine were found in 12%; prescription stimulants such as amphetamine were found in 5%; cocaine metabolites were found in 2%; and alcohol was found in less than 1%. These results provide the first objective information about the use of potentially abusive drugs by tractor-trailer drivers. The extent of driver impairment attributable to the observed drugs is uncertain because of the complex relationship between performance and drug concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Washington, DC.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Preusser
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Blomberg
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D001334:Automobile Driving; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000032:analysis; D003042:Cocaine / Q000032:analysis; D000431:Ethanol / Q000032:analysis; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D008403:Mass Screening; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D013566:Sympathomimetics / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D002186:Cannabinoids; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D013566:Sympathomimetics; D000431:Ethanol; D003042:Cocaine