Problems of Forensic Sciences 2005 Vol. 62 (LXII) 145-156
DIAGNOSTIC AND INTERPRETATION PROBLEMS RESULTING FROM THE PRESENCE OF PSYCHOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN A CAR DRIVER’S BODY
Roman WACHOWIAK
Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Karol Marcinkowski Academy of Medicine, Poznań
Streszczenie
Effective assessment and control of factors that impair the psychophysical performance of a driver are important elements of preventive actions taken to limit the increase in number of collisions and traffic accidents. Regulations should limit not only the negative effects of abuse of ethyl alcohol, but also of other stupefying agents. Commonly abused psychoactive compounds include the most hazardous narcotic drugs (opiates, amphetamine, cocaine, and cannabinols) and sedating and hypnotic drugs (benzodiazepines, barbiturates). An objective appraisal of the effective participation of illicit psychoactive compounds in the impairment of a driver’s psychomotor efficiency should indicate permissible threshold levels of selected xenobiotic in accessible biological fluids (blood, urine, saliva). Besides statistical data on the scope of the phenomenon in the Wielkopolska region, the presented material also encompasses indicators of human efficiency dysfunction caused by disease or therapy and, furthermore, interpretation difficulties resulting from the pharmacological specificity of psychoactive compounds are discussed. Appropriate legal classification of a given case requires determination of risk and establishment of whether a causal link exists.
Słowa kluczowe
Driver; Psychoactive substances; Drug induced impairment; Legal aspects.