High prevalence of previous arrests for illicit drug use and/or impaired driving among drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes in Sweden with amphetamine in blood at autopsy

• Background: Amphetamine, and to a lesser extent the secondary amine methamphetamine, are major recreational drugs of abuse in Sweden. These central stimulant amines are identified in blood from roughly 50% of people arrested for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). However, much less information is available about the presence of amphetamine in blood of drivers killed in road-traffic crashes.Methods: This retrospective 10-year study (2001-2010) used a forensic toxicology database (TOXBASE) to retrieve information about road-traffic crashes when the driver had amphetamine and/or methamphetamine in autopsy blood. Forensic toxicology results were available from over 95% of all drivers killed on Swedish roads during this 10-year period.Results: Amphetamine was present in the blood of 106 drivers (3.9%) either alone or together with other psychoactive substances (e.g. alcohol, cannabis, diazepam, alprazolam, etc.). The vast majority of fatalities were male (95%) with a mean age (+/- standard deviation) of 37 +/- 11.4 years (range 16-67 years). The mean (median) and highest concentrations of amphetamine in femoral blood were 1.36 mg/L (1.0 mg/L) and 6.74 mg/L, respectively. Many of the victims (75%) had been arrested previously for use of illicit drugs or DUID. The median number of previous arrests was 4 (range 0-83) and amphetamine or methamphetamine were among the drugs identified in blood samples from 89% of cases (0-100%).Conclusion: The high prevalence of repeat DUID offending and/or use of illicit drugs among the drivers killed in road-traffic crashes suggests that an early intervention and treatment for stimulant abuse might have been more beneficial than conventional punishments for such drug-related crimes. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Rättsmedicin (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Forensic Science (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Abuse; Amphetamine; Driving; Impairment; Recidivism; Traffic fatalities

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