title: What non-alcohol drugs are used by drinking drivers in Sweden? Toxicological results from ten years of forensic blood samples.
abstract: METHODS
  Using a forensic toxicology database (TOXBASE), the toxicological results from 10 years of forensic blood samples from people arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or other drugs were reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alcohol was the only drug identified in blood in N=35,704 cases at a median blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 1.63 mg/g. The mean age (±SD) of these offenders was 40±15years and 89% were male. The median BAC was lower (1.30 mg/g) in drivers who had consumed alcohol and used a prescription drug before driving (N=1,251). The mean age of this group of traffic offenders was 38±13years and 85% were male. Both the median BAC (0.97 mg/g) and the mean age were lowest (36±11years, 92% male) in N=3,153 drivers who had consumed alcohol and used illicit drugs before driving. Cannabis, amphetamine, cocaine and morphine (metabolite of heroin) were the commonest illicit drugs identified in blood samples. Sedative-hypnotics (benzodiazepines) were the major prescription drugs co-ingested with alcohol. Poly-drug use was a common finding in these traffic delinquents, although individuals who only drank alcohol had a higher median BAC and were also several years older than drinking drivers combining alcohol with other drugs before driving.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Zero-tolerance legislation did not deter hard-core offenders. In future there should be more focus on treatment for alcohol and substance abuse disorder rather than conventional punishments for this type of traffic crime.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Toxicology, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden. wayne.jones@LIU.se
authors.forename: Alan Wayne
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holmgren
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000097:blood*; D000435:Alcoholic Intoxication / Q000097:blood; D001334:Automobile Driving; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D053593:Forensic Toxicology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs