The incidence of drugs of impairment in oral fluid from random roadside testing
Mark Chu, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, Jochen Beyer, Luke Rodda, Martin Boorman & Olaf H Drummer
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abstract
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Oral fluid (OF) has become a popular specimen to test for presence
of drugs, particularly in regards to road safety. In Victoria, OF
specimens from drivers have been used to test for the presence of
methylamphetamine (MA) and Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
since 2003 and 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA) since
2006. LC-MS/MS has been used to test the most recent 853 submitted
OF specimens from Victoria Police for 31 drugs of abuse including
those listed in the Australian Standard AS4760-2006. At least one
proscribed drug was detected in 96% of drivers, of which MA was the
most common (77%), followed by THC (42%), MDMA (17%) and the
combination of all three (3.9%). Opioids were detected in 14% of
drivers of which 4.8% were positive for 6-acetylmorphine and 3.3%
for methadone. The incidence of the opioids tramadol (1.2%) and
oxycodone (1.1%) were relatively low. Cocaine (8.0%) was as commonly
detected as benzodiazepines (8.0%), and was almost always found in
combination with MA (7.9%). Samples positive to benzodiazepines were
largely due to diazepam (3.5%) and alprazolam (3.4%), with only 0.2%
of drivers combining the two. Ketamine was also detected in 1.5% of
cases. While the incidences of the proscribed drugs itself are
concerning, it is clear that many drivers are also using other drugs
capable of causing impairment.
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citation
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Chu M, Gerostamoulos D, Beyer J, Rodda L, Boorman M, Drummer O H.
The incidence of drugs of impairment in oral fluid from random
roadside testing. Forensic Sci Int 2011; 215:28-31.
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type
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journal paper/review (English)
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date of publishing
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12-06-2011
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journal title
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Forensic Sci Int (215/1-3)
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ISSN electronic
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1872-6283
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pages
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28-31
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PubMed
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21665392
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DOI
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10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.05.012
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