Problems of Forensic Sciences 2005 Vol. 62 (LXII) 133-144
SUBSTANCES ACTING SIMILARLY TO ALCOHOL IN THE ORGANISM OF DRIVERS
Maria KAŁA1, Piotr ADAMOWICZ1, Ewa CHUDZIKIEWICZ1, Wojciech LECHOWICZ1, Ewa PUFAL2, Marzena SYKUTERA2, Wojciech PIEKOSZEWSKI1, Janusz PACH3, Karol ŚLIWKA2
1Institute of Forensic Research, Krakow
2Chair and Department of Forensic Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Nicolas Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz
3Toxicology Clinic, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
Streszczenie
Currently, oral fluid testing for drugs of abuse is used in a variety of settings, including workplace drug testing, treatment monitoring, health assessment and roadside testing of (psycho-physically) impaired drivers. The authors present the main issues connected with the „zero tolerance law” concerning drugs and driving from the forensic toxicologist’s point of view. Polish legal regulations and the drugs and driving scene are discussed. Results of surveys among drivers that were carried out in 1997 and 2002 are presented. The usefulness of saliva specimens collected from hospitalised drivers for detection of illicit drugs and the same kind of specimen collected from healthy volunteers after administration of a single therapeutic dose of estazolam, doxepine and promazine for determination of the given medicinal drug is shown. At the determined concentrations of the drugs in blood and saliva, the volunteers were examined for balance, walking and visual disturbances. The friction coefficient can be proposed as a parameter that allows us to evaluate the state of the posture control system.
Słowa kluczowe
Legal regulations; Controlled substances; Medicinal drugs; Saliva; Blood; Concentrations; Psychomotor performance.