Środki działające podobnie do alkoholu a aspekty bezpieczeństwa w ruchu drogowym na terenie Pomorza Zachodniego

• Published in: Pomeranian Journal of Life Sciences 2018-12, Vol.64 (4)
• Main Authors: Potocka-Banaś, Barbara, Wojtyś, Michał, Banaś, Tomasz, Semeniuk, Urszula, Borowiak, Krzysztof
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2450-4637
• DOI: 10.21164/pomjlifesci.491

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Nowadays automotive transport is the basis for the efficient functioning of society, thus road safety, which is dependent on many factors such as the technological condition of roads, weather or traffic regulations, has a substantial impact on its performance. It should also be emphasized that traffic safety depends primarily on the mental psycho-organic status of drivers.The presented retrospective study describes drugs and medicines known to act similarly to ethanol, and which can be detected in the blood of drivers.The study aimed to analyze statistical data on driver blood samples that were tested for the presence of substances acting like ethanol. The analysis focused on samples collected in the period 2011–2015 in the West Pomeranian province in Poland.Materials and methods: During the analyzed period, more than 3069 of toxicological tests were performed on driver blood samples at the Department of Clinical Toxicology and Forensic Medicine of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin (Poland).Results: Based on the blood test results obtained in the period 2011–2015, the studies revealed the presence of substances acting like ethanol: 9delta-tetrahydrocannabinol (9ΔTHC), amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, cocaine, opiates and benzodiazepines. Moreover, the percentage of drivers whose blood samples revealed the presence of such substances increased steadily along with the simultaneous increase in the percentage of road users under the influence of the detected substance.Within the analysis, the presence of 9ΔTHC in the blood of dri­vers decreased from 80.45% to 44.13%, whilst the percentage of drivers with the presence of amphetamines increased from 16.43% to 46.85%, and was the most commonly detected psychoactive substance in 2015.Conclusions: The percentage of drivers whose blood samples revealed the presence of opiates, cocaine and benzodiazepines in the analyzed period remained at a constant low level of 5.24% in contrast to the number of drivers detected with amphetamines or 9ΔTHC.