Roadside Drug Tests for Queensland Drivers - Update No.1 (of many I'm sure)

2nd December 2007

Roadside Drug Tests for Queensland Drivers - Update No.1 (of many I’m sure)

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Ok, now I’m getting worried. Having just read the Queensland Government’s Drug Driving Factsheet it seems that there is no provision at all for people taking prescription drugs. I am a cronic back pain sufferer, hence this blog instead of our beloved workshop, and I take the maximum dose I can of pain killers just to keep what’s left of my sanity. I should have researched this topic a little further before forming an opinion. If Panadeine Forte is going to get us convicted of ‘drug driving’ then maybe they should set-up thier van outside the pain clinic I go to. Plenty of ‘drug drivers’ there!

My initial thoughts were that this could only be a good thing, get the drivers off the road that are high as a kite on speed, ecstasy and the like. Certainly these types of drugs would have a significant affect on your reaction time and concentration levels, however I fail to see how they can class Panadeine, Nurofen Plus and Actifed in the same class as mind-altering drugs. Am I just being ignorant and don’t realise the affect that these prescription drugs can have on you? I don’t know, all I can say is that I know when I shouldn’t drive, like after taking valium when my pain is really strong but I believe that I have the ability to drive properly after taking my daily dose of Panadeine Forte.

In the Drug Driving Factsheet it starts off by saying that Police will undertake saliva testing for illegal drugs from December 1. If there is no leniency towards people taking prescription drugs why wasn’t this more widely advertised. How many people are going to be caught after taking what they thought was a ’safe’ drug. Maybe they where relying on a common sense approach by drivers, which makes sense, or maybe there is no test that can determine between illegal and prescription drugs so they have put all drugs which have certain active ingredients into the same class, no-matter what thier strength or affect.

The factsheet is a little confusing but from what I can gather this is a list of some of the prescription drugs that can be detected and if you provide a positive saliva sample you will be charged with ‘drug driving’.

Slimming pills
Sudafed, Benadryl, Codral, Tylenol Cold and Flu (small amounts of psuedoephedrine)
Codeine based pain killers. Panadeine, Codalgin, Dymadon, Nurofen Plus, Mersyndol and Aspalgin.
Valium, Rohypnol, Serapax, Rivotril, Mogadon, Alepam, Alodorm, Antenex, Ducene, Normison and Temaze. These I can understand, you are warned not to drive when prescribed most of these.
Some anti-depressants. Well there goes half the driving population!
Polaramine, Avil and Actifed
Sedatives and Tranquilizers - a no-brainer.

The moral of the story is if you are taking anything at all, check with your doctor first but I really think that the fact that alot of prescription drugs are on the list should have been more widely publicized and I do wonder how many people are going to be caught out by this. As I said, maybe it is my ignorance about the affect many of these prescription drugs have on people or maybe there is no test specifically for illegal drugs so they put them all under the same banner. Please tell us what you think.

Craig

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 at 1:05 am and is filed under Automotive News and Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On December 2nd, 2007, John said:

Wow thanks for posting this info i was trying to find it yesterday but with no luck. Is there any chance you could post a link to the actual document.

It’s really bad to see that my concerns have been confirmed, they really have gone a step too far! Is the government willing to compensate industry when at the start of winter 80% of the workforce is off sick cause they are too “high” on cold and flu tablets to drive to work or at the start of spring when hay fever sufferers are taking Avil and the like just so they can step outside. Are they willing to put obease people on disability pensions who lose their jobs cause they live in an area that doesn’t have resonable public transport so they can’t get to work cause they are “high” on the slimming pills that have most probably been subscribed in an effort to save their lives. How does a sufferer of migrains get home from work if they get a headache during the day, what about all the women who require relief from pain once a month? Have these questions been asked of the policy makers?

This is a poorly though out initiative with alot more negative impact on society than positive. The main killer on our roads is lack of education and training. Pump some money into training people how to operate their vehicles safely and effectively in all situations rather than just testing people on the bare minimum skill level required to get from A to B and than park.

When people are educated they make better decisions, plain and simple. If people had training and testing in extreme situations as part of learning to drive then they would soon realise that driving under the influence is not such a good idea should they need to deal with an abnormal situation. The fact is 90% of people can get a car safely from A to B under “normal” conditions when intoxicated so they don’t think of the abnormal situations they may encounter when making the decision to drive. If drivers have had previously experienced (which probably 80% haven’t) the level speed and accuracy of decision making and motor skills required to safely recover from a dangerous situation then the vast majority would make the correct decision and the law would police itself!

Cars don’t kill people, speed doesn’t kill people it’s not even the roads and conditions that kill people. Poor decision making by the driver is what kills. Address the problem at it’s roots!

2 On December 23rd, 2007, Lindy Lou said:

Hi Craig!

A great list to start with in educating those who use legally prescribed medications, although i bet there are probably quite a few more.

As an example for general interest, you named a drug called ‘Antenax’, which is from the base drug ‘Diazepam’. Most people would consider this drug in the same vein as ‘Serapax’, and, to a degree it certainly is. However, according to recent qualified medical opinion, Antenax is also commonly used with the sole purpose of being a muscle relaxant, particularly for those with moderate to severe spinal problems, given that the muscles around the area will often go into spasm. Medical opinion is that the ‘active’ time for Antenax is approx 2-3 hours. Certainly, it would have long become inactive within 24 hours. However, there has been mention that saliva tests also include the benzodiazepam family of drugs, of which this compound is one, however, it could very possibly show in saliva at 24 hours, residually, although totally inactive and not affecting ability or response times. Question…how do people then prove at what time they may have actually taken their legally prescribed tablet? Antenax is apparently prescribed to thousands of people, all over the country on a regular basis. Sure, they will feel a relaxed sensation for 2-3 hours. Certainly by 4-5 hours they will be ‘as sober as a judge’, so to speak.

3 On May 7th, 2008, Wayne said:

Hi, I take an anti-depressant called dothep. I see its on the fact sheet supplied by the Gov. I take a fairly large dose (2 X 50mg tabs per day) Some days i can feel the effects, others i dont. How can i know when it is safe to drive? I drive a lot for work and on the days that i feel affected i try to avoid it but some times its just not practical. Will i be convicted if i return a positve reading? I need to know because i cant stop taking anti-depressants because my quality of life would be on a downward spiral if i did. I imagine i am not the only one is this predicament?

4 On August 13th, 2008, Amanda said:

I just read the factsheet. It says they are testing for 3 diff drugs. this comes straight from the fact sheet:

Police will ask you to provide a saliva sample for
the purpose of testing for:
THC—the active ingredient in cannabis
Methylamphetamine—also known as speed
and ice
MDMA—the active ingredient in ecstasy.

Saliva tests will only be able to detect the active
ingredients of the nominated drugs THC, MDMA
and methylamphetamine.

Even though methamphetamine is manufactured
from substances such as pseudoephedrine (found
in cold and flu tablets) those substances will not
be detected by the saliva tests.

It says they will not be testing for pseudoeph substances on the main ingredients in the drugs. It then goes on to list the different types of drugs but nowhere on the factsheet does it say they will be testing for those drugs. So I think most people taking anti-depressants and the like will be fine. Want to check it out for yourself here is the link:
http://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/roadSafety/drugDriving.htm