Drug-driving a bigger problem than drunk driving

Statin drugs, for example, are well known to impair coginitive ability. Antidepressants promote violent, aggressive behavior, just like we often see in road rage incidents.

• Drug-driving may be more of a problem than drink-driving, it is claimed, after more than half of the motorists killed in accidents in one police area were found to have taken drugs.
• Campaigners also say young people are twice as likely to agree to be driven by someone on drugs rather than by someone who has been drinking.
• The statistics were quoted at the launch of a Christmas campaign against drug-driving today.
• The London Drug Policy Forum initiative is aimed at drivers between the ages of 18 and 30 who are unaware of the dangers of driving after taking drugs.
• Posters on London's buses and Underground will highlight the penalties of being convicted of drug-driving.
• Campaign organiser David MacKintosh said: "We know there are people who would not dream of drinking and driving but who would happily drop a few 'Es' or smoke a few spliffs before driving.
• "We want to alert them that drug-driving has the same penalties as drink-driving and impairs people in the same way."
• Drugs such as cocaine tend to make people take more risks and narrow their senses, while cannabis impairs reactions in the same way as drinking.
• The campaign, funded by the Corporation of London, was originally aimed at recreational drug users in the City.
• Now, backed by the Metropolitan and City of London police forces and the RAC Foundation, it is hoped to extend the campaign across the country.
• The RAC Foundation said police in Durham had examined blood samples from 23 people killed in road accidents.
• Fifty per cent had traces of cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy or other drugs.
• Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, said: "For too long the real problem of drugs and driving has been a taboo subject.