title: Drugged driving arrests in Norway before and after the implementation of per se law.
abstract: Norway introduced legislative limits for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) February 1st, 2012, to harmonize with the legislation on driving under the influence of alcohol. Per se limits corresponding to blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.02% were established for 20 drugs and concentration limits for graded sanctions corresponding to BACs of 0.05% and 0.12% were established for 13 of these drugs as well. The new system is not applied to individuals with valid prescriptions for medicinal drugs. The aim of this study was to investigate if the implementation of legislative limits for drugs affected the number of blood samples taken from suspected drugged drivers, drug findings and the number of expert witness statement requests. The number of blood samples taken in suspected DUID cases increased by 20% after introduction of legislative limits (3320 cases in 2010 and 3970 in 2013). The number of samples with at least one drug above the per se limit corresponding to BAC of 0.02% increased by 17% (from 2646 in 2010 to 3090 in 2013), whereas the number of expert witness statements was reduced by the half (from 63.4% in 2010 and 28.7% in 2013).
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: vigdis.vindenes@fhi.no.
authors.forename: Vigdis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vindenes
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boix
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koksæter
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Maren Cecilie
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Liliana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bachs
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jørg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mørland
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Forensic Sciences, Pb. 4404, Nydalen 0403, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Hallvard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gjerde
mesh_terms: D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents / Q000097:blood*; D000066448:Driving Under the Influence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D009294:Narcotics / Q000097:blood*; D009664:Norway; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000067401:Blood Alcohol Content; D002491:Central Nervous System Agents; D009294:Narcotics
keywords: Driving under the influence; Drugs; Impairment; Legal limits; Per se law