Driving under the influence (DUID):Prevalence of drugs in oral fluid

Identifier:  imarina:5130247

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina5130247

Authors:  Arroyo A; Barbería E; Marrón MT; Medallo J

Abstract:
Nowadays, detection of drugs of abuse is a usual practice in the legal field due to its incidence in several proceedings. Saliva is a matrix of increasing utility as it is a non-invasive sample that has been tested in international projects such as ROSITA and drove under the influence of drugs (DUID). Objectives: The study focused on the study of prevalence of drugs of abuse in a sample population of drivers of motor vehicles 3468 oral fluid samples came from local police activities, during the years 2007 until June 2010 in Barcelona (Spain). Materials and Methods: Drivers suspected of DUIDs had to comply with an analytical road-side drug testing. A commercial kit immunoassay based was used (Cozart® DDS 801). Kits with positive results to any drug, 24.59%, were submitted to the Catalonia Institute of Legal Medicine, with an additional saliva sample (as indicated by Cozart® DDS 801 provider) for confirmation by gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (GC/MS). Drugs detected by the test Cozart® included: D9 tetrahydrocannabinol, cocaine (COC), opiates, methamphetamines (MAP) amphetamines (AMP). Results: After confirmation results showed a cannabis prevalence in 2064 samples (59.5%), COC in 1952 samples (56.2%) opiates in 258 (7.4%) AMP in 69 samples (1.9%) and MAP in 57 (1.6%). No quantitative analysis were achieved. Conclusions: Results show that cannabis is the most prevalent in the study, followed by COC. Data are valuable in order to initiate sanction proceedings in Spanish legislation and also as signs of recreational drugs consumption which provide information to both epidemiology and public health.