Although penalties for violating Italy’s laws on driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) are very strict, no national protocol is enforced in order to assess possible offences in traffic accidents and routine traffic patrols. We describe two protocols that were applied to assess 298 cases of potentially impaired drivers out of 1653 stopped in Perugia, a town in Central Italy. One protocol was the D.O.S. carried out by means of oral fluid and urine and blood for confirmatory analysis. The other “SALIVA” uses only oral fluid collected during the road checkpoints. Psychoactive drugs were present in about 30% of the suspected drivers under both protocols, with cannabis being most often detected. A clear prevalence of positive subjects were fined under the SALIVA protocol. Because non-standardized procedures showed critical issues, it is necessary to harmonize DIUD national protocols. Toxicological screening and confirmatory tests, with standard analytic procedures, should be developed.

Driving under the influence of drugs in Italy: Describing two assessment protocols

Gambelunghe, Cristiana
Writing – Review & Editing
;
Bacci, Mauro
Supervision
;
Mercurio, Isabella
Investigation
;
Pioda, Arianna
Investigation
2021

Abstract

Although penalties for violating Italy’s laws on driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) are very strict, no national protocol is enforced in order to assess possible offences in traffic accidents and routine traffic patrols. We describe two protocols that were applied to assess 298 cases of potentially impaired drivers out of 1653 stopped in Perugia, a town in Central Italy. One protocol was the D.O.S. carried out by means of oral fluid and urine and blood for confirmatory analysis. The other “SALIVA” uses only oral fluid collected during the road checkpoints. Psychoactive drugs were present in about 30% of the suspected drivers under both protocols, with cannabis being most often detected. A clear prevalence of positive subjects were fined under the SALIVA protocol. Because non-standardized procedures showed critical issues, it is necessary to harmonize DIUD national protocols. Toxicological screening and confirmatory tests, with standard analytic procedures, should be developed.
2021
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1496422
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact