Edge80
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Volunteers take speed to test drug-driving devices
By Susan Brown
July 18, 2004
Researchers at Swinburne University are paying volunteers to take methamphetamine, or speed, to test roadside drug-testing equipment that police hope to be using by the end of the year.
Trials are being held to determine the accuracy of four different brands of drug-testing machines. Cannabis trials started last year.
Victoria Police have had the power to randomly test motorists for drugs since the start of the month, but tests will not begin until perhaps the end of the year because of a delay in finding suitable technology.
Katherine Papafotiou, co-ordinator of the drugs and driving unit at Swinburne University, said last week that up to 10 devices were being tested.
The devices all test for active metabolytes, or recent drug use, using a saliva sample, but there are differences with some, including a "chewing" option designed to counter dry mouth, a side-effect of recreational drug use.
Dr Papafotiou has sent preliminary data to Professor Philip Swan at VicRoads, and expects to have a "concrete" recommendation for at least one device within two months.
Between 20 and 40 people are paid an average of $50 a session to take speed or cannabis. Potential volunteers are screened for psychiatric illnesses, and "individuals have to have consumed amphetamines before so we are not introducing them to a new substance".
Drugs are purchased in their purest form and inserted into capsules. "Initially we started with quite low doses," Dr Papafotiou said, but participants were not sure they felt much different. Doses were increased and "we are very confident at this stage we are administering doses that would be consumed recreationally".
Participants provide saliva and blood, and in some cases complete driving simulation tests. They leave after five hours. Some are checked again the next day. Human testing of illegal drugs would not have been allowed a decade ago, says Professor Olaf Drummer, of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine based at Monash University.
He said the Swinburne research was important because "we now know what a certain dose can do". It was also needed to ensure the police testing devices worked accurately, thus reducing potential arguments in court.
Motorists will not be prosecuted for a positive result at the roadside unless a laboratory confirms the sample result. The new law is the first in the world to allow random drug testing - now limited to speed and cannabis - without cause
LINK
By Susan Brown
July 18, 2004
Researchers at Swinburne University are paying volunteers to take methamphetamine, or speed, to test roadside drug-testing equipment that police hope to be using by the end of the year.
Trials are being held to determine the accuracy of four different brands of drug-testing machines. Cannabis trials started last year.
Victoria Police have had the power to randomly test motorists for drugs since the start of the month, but tests will not begin until perhaps the end of the year because of a delay in finding suitable technology.
Katherine Papafotiou, co-ordinator of the drugs and driving unit at Swinburne University, said last week that up to 10 devices were being tested.
The devices all test for active metabolytes, or recent drug use, using a saliva sample, but there are differences with some, including a "chewing" option designed to counter dry mouth, a side-effect of recreational drug use.
Dr Papafotiou has sent preliminary data to Professor Philip Swan at VicRoads, and expects to have a "concrete" recommendation for at least one device within two months.
Between 20 and 40 people are paid an average of $50 a session to take speed or cannabis. Potential volunteers are screened for psychiatric illnesses, and "individuals have to have consumed amphetamines before so we are not introducing them to a new substance".
Drugs are purchased in their purest form and inserted into capsules. "Initially we started with quite low doses," Dr Papafotiou said, but participants were not sure they felt much different. Doses were increased and "we are very confident at this stage we are administering doses that would be consumed recreationally".
Participants provide saliva and blood, and in some cases complete driving simulation tests. They leave after five hours. Some are checked again the next day. Human testing of illegal drugs would not have been allowed a decade ago, says Professor Olaf Drummer, of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine based at Monash University.
He said the Swinburne research was important because "we now know what a certain dose can do". It was also needed to ensure the police testing devices worked accurately, thus reducing potential arguments in court.
Motorists will not be prosecuted for a positive result at the roadside unless a laboratory confirms the sample result. The new law is the first in the world to allow random drug testing - now limited to speed and cannabis - without cause
LINK
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