Examination of Firearms Review: 2007 to 2010 - Interpol

(27.7%), and opioids (13.8%). A 7-year survey in Greece for the prevalence of
alcohol/drugs involved in road traffic accidents indicated that there was a drop
in the detection of alcohol from 37% in 1998-2000 to 29% in 2000-2004, and
that cannabis, benzodiazepines, opiates, and cocaine were found in 4%, 4%,
4%, and 1% of the total number of cases, respectively [61]. The prevalence of
drugs in the first year after the introduction of the revision of the Swiss Traffic
Law for DUID in 2005 was studied [62]. The most frequently encountered
drugs in whole blood were cannabinoids (48% of total number of cases),
ethanol (35%), cocaine (25%), opiates (10%), amphetamines (7%),
benzodiazepines (6%), and methadone (5%). In the U.K., the drugs and
alcohol findings for victims of 1047 cases in fatal road traffic incidents indicated
that alcohol and cannabinoids were the most frequently detected substances
across the victim groups, while a wide range of drugs were also detected (e.g.,
drugs of abuse, anti-convulsants, anti-histamines, anti-inflammatories,
anti-psychotics, cardiac drugs, and over-the-counter products) [ 63 ].
Epidemiological data in fatal road accidents in France suggested that alcohol
levels above the legal limit (0.5 g/L of blood) were found in 21% of all drivers
involved in accidents (killed, injured, or unharmed). Cannabis headed the list of
illicit drugs detected, with a prevalence of 6.8% (THC > or = 1 ng/mL) [64]. The
prevalence of the use of psychoactive substances for 1000 truck drivers in
France was studied by analyzing urine samples. The drugs found included
cannabinoids (85 cases), ethanol (50), opiates (41), buprenorphine (18),
methadone (5), benzodiazepines (4), amphetamines (3), cocaine (1), and
6-MAM (1) [65]. A study in Austria for the period of 2003-2007 showed that
cannabis (50%), opiates (20%), amphetamines (18%), cocaine (15%), and
benzodiazepines (20%) were those with the highest prevalence in blood
samples taken from drivers; a newly developed urinary road-site-test system,
Check 24 (Protzek GmbH, Germany), with two different cut-off values for
THCCOOH-glucuronide, was used to identify drivers under the influence of
cannabis [66]. Post-mortem cases for amphetamine-based drugs in 1999-2004
in the Netherlands were reviewed and compared with those of non-fatal DUID
cases. Amphetamine-based drugs were present in 70 post-mortem cases and
467 DUI cases. The majority of MDMA- and amphetamine-caused deaths
occurred with blood concentrations above 1.5 and 0.80 mg/L, respectively, and
the concentrations in drug related deaths and DUI cases overlap the range of
fatal concentrations. Thus, the MDMA and amphetamine concentrations
should never be used alone to establish the cause of death [ 67]. 274
amphetamines (amphetamine, MA, MDA, MDMA and/or
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