title: Presence of illegal drugs in drivers involved in fatal road traffic accidents in Spain.
abstract: This study investigated the presence of illegal drugs in the blood of 285 fatally injured drivers in Spain. Illegal drugs were detected in 10.2% of all samples. Illicit drugs alone were detected in 2.5% and together with other substances in 7.7%. Cocaine was the most common drug detected. The mean number (+/- S.D.) of substances detected was 2.6 +/- 1.2: consisting of 46 illegal drugs, 14 alcohol cases and 16 medicines. Three concentration levels of the different substances have been established: low, medium and high-toxic. In 68.9% of the samples in which an illegal drug was detected, a substance was also found at the high-toxic level. The results show that illegal drugs are commonly detected in road accident victims.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valladolid, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carmen del Río
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Alvarez
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000401:mortality*; D002423:Cause of Death; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs; D008297:Male; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000401:mortality*
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs