title: Roadside drug testing: comparison of two legal approaches in Belgium.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Internationally, urine on-site testing has been used for detecting drivers under the influence of drugs (DUID) but more and more countries, such as Belgium, are switching to oral fluid screening.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare the previous (published in 1999) and current (published 2009) enforcement procedures of DUID in Belgium. The two evaluated procedures differ in the way the drivers are screened by the police (signs of impairment versus signs of recent drug use), the matrix for screening (urine versus oral fluid) and the analytical cut-off concentrations in plasma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data on positive screening and confirmation results were gathered from 1st April 2008 to 30th September 2010, when urine screening (Dipro Druglab panels test) was performed; and from 1st October 2010 to 31st March 2013, when an on-site oral fluid test (Securetec Drugwipe 5(+)) was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 4100 data sets related to urine screening and 3900 data sets related to oral fluid screening were studied. Eighty-eight percent of positive urine on-site tests yielded positive results in plasma for cannabis, 21% for cocaine, 20% for amphetamines and 7% for opiates. Sixty-six percent of the positive oral fluid on-site tests yielded positive results in plasma for cannabis, 30% for cocaine, 28% for amphetamines and 8% for opiates. For cannabis, opiates and amphetamines more negative results in plasma were observed in the period of urine screening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percentage of plasma samples of tested drivers, in which none of the positive screened target drugs were present in a concentration above the legal cut-off value, has decreased from 17% to 8% since the introduction of the current legislation involving oral fluid screening.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium; Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: trudyvdlinden@gmail.com.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van der Linden
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: S M R
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wille
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramírez-Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Chemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Ghent University, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium; Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Verstraete
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, Vilvoordsesteenweg 100, 1120 Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Samyn
mesh_terms: D001530:Belgium; D000066448:Driving Under the Influence / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D009294:Narcotics / Q000032:analysis; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D015813:Substance Abuse Detection / Q000379:methods*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000652:urine*
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics
keywords: Blood; Confirmation; Driving under influence; On-site screening; Oral fluid; Urine