The Czech Republic Annual Report 2010 Drug ... - Drogy-info.cz

fatalities in such accidents also rose. This number is still much lower than the reported results of autopsies and
toxicological examinations of road fatalities carried out by forensic medicine departments (see above), even while
recognising differing case definitions and data collection methodologies in both sources.
Table 6-13: Road traffic accident statistics in the Czech Republic in 2003–2010 – influence of alcohol and other drugs
(Ředitelství služby dopravní policie Policejního prezidia ČR, 2010; Ředitelství služby dopravní policie Policejního prezidia ČR,
2011)
Year
Accidents
Total
Under the influence
of alcohol
Under the
influence of pills
and other drugs
Accident fatalities
Total
Under the
influence of
alcohol
Under the
influence of pills
and other drugs
Number Number % Number % Number Number % Number %
2003 195,851 9,076 4.9 39 0.02 1,319 111 8.5 0 0.0
2004 196,484 8,445 4.5 53 0.03 1,215 59 4.9 1 0.1
2005 199,262 8,192 4.3 60 0.03 1,127 59 5.2 0 0.0
2006 187,965 6,807 3.8 64 0.03 956 42 4.3 1 0.1
2007 182,736 7,266 4.3 78 0.04 1,123 36 3.2 2 0.2
2008 160,376 7,252 4.8 109 0.07 992 80 8.1 1 0.1
2009* 74,815 5,725 8.1 137 0.18 832 123 14.9 6 0.7
2010 75,522 5,015 6.6 165 0.22 753 102 13.5 15 2.0
Note: * The number of reported accidents fell because from 1 January 2009, the level for the mandatory reporting of accidents to the police
increased from CZK 50,000 (€ 1,977) to CZK 100,000 (€ 3,954) in estimated damage.
Since 2007 the traffic police have tested for narcotic and psychotropic substances using saliva tests as a general
detection tool 92 . If the result of the general test is positive, a specialised medical and subsequent toxicological
examination must be carried out. In 2007 a total of 2,758 general tests were carried out, of which 347 returned
positive (12.6%). These most frequently involved amphetamines (152 cases), cannabis (81), ecstasy (15), opiates
(6), and hallucinogens (1). Several drugs at the same time were found in 77 cases. In 2008 a total of 8,511 general
tests were carried out, with 794 of these returning positive (9.3%). In 2009, 1,149 cases of the use of narcotic or
psychotropic substances and 13,767 cases of alcohol use were found in drivers; in 2010 the corresponding figures
were 1,450 and 27,803 cases, respectively (Ředitelství služby dopravní policie Policejního prezidia ČR, 2010;
Ředitelství služby dopravní policie Policejního prezidia ČR, 2011).
6.3 Drug-Related Deaths and Mortality of Drug Users
6.3.1 Drug Deaths in the Special Mortality Register
In the Czech Republic, a forensic medical examiner carries out a mandatory autopsy in all cases of sudden death in
which the examining practitioner could not determine the cause of death and in all cases of violent deaths (all injuries
and poisonings). Since 1998 drug-related deaths (fatal overdoses), and since 2003 also indirect fatalities (with the
presence of drugs), have been monitored on a routine basis by means of a special register maintained at all
departments of forensic medicine, with close collaboration between the National Focal Point and the Czech Society
for Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the J. E. Purkyně Czech Medical Association. Detailed data for 2010 were
obtained from all 13 departments 93 , which performed a total of 13,241 autopsies (13,276 autopsies were performed
in 2009). Aggregate reports since 2007 have also been obtained from three pathology departments where forensic
medical examiners perform autopsies on an irregular basis in accordance with Section 115 of the Criminal
Procedure Rules (forensic autopsies); no drug-related deaths were reported by these three facilities for 2010.
6.3.1.1 Fatal Drug Overdoses
In 2010, 194 fatal overdoses on illicit drugs, inhalants, and psychotropic medication were identified (225 in 2009). Of
this number, 55 cases fell under the standard EMCDDA selection D for drug-related deaths, i.e. cases of fatal
overdoses on illegal drugs and inhalants (49 in 2009), and 139 cases involved psychotropic pills (176 in 2009). The
substances which caused the fatal overdoses were successfully identified in all cases in 2010.
A total of 19 cases of fatal overdoses on (illegal) opiates were identified (20 cases in 2009); most were heroin
overdoses (13 confirmed or very probable cases). In 13 cases, the opiates were identified alone or together with
ethanol (six cases), while in the other six cases opiates were combined with other substances (such as pervitin,
MDMA, and pills). Two cases probably involved a fatal overdose on opium (of these, one was in combination with
ethanol, the other in combination with pervitin and tramadol). In one case the cause of death was a fentanyl
overdose in combination with ethanol (a small amount of fentanyl was also found in another overdose case classified
as a pervitin overdose). Methadone was found in two overdose cases: one was in combination with ethanol, while
pervitin and benzodiazepines were present in the other case.
92
DrugWipe (http://www.drugwipe.us) tests are used.
93
In 2009 data were obtained from 14 departments – data were also reported from the department in Most (Ústí nad Labem region),
where there is a forensic toxicology department.
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