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Drug drivers believe it is more acceptable than drink driving, according to Government study

Drug drivers believe their abilities behind the wheel are not seriously impaired by taking substances such as cannabis, cocaine and MDMA

Monday 06 April 2015 18:57 BST

It is estimated that people driving while under the influence of drugs may account for as many as 200 deaths a year in the UK (Rex)

People who take drugs before getting behind the wheel of a car believe it is a “much more acceptable” thing to do than driving while drunk, according to a Government study.

Drug drivers believe their abilities behind the wheel are not seriously impaired by taking substances such as cannabis, cocaine and MDMA and that in any case they are unlikely to be stopped by police, the research found.

The scale of drug driving is difficult to calculate as statistics are not always recorded, but research suggests that levels are similar to drink driving.

It is estimated that people driving while under the influence of drugs may account for as many as 200 deaths a year in the UK.

The police now have powers to test for cannabis and cocaine through a saliva swab at the side of the road (Rex)

The research, commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT), was based on in-depth interviews with people who said they had drug-driven in the past year. Their friends, some of whom had been passengers, were also asked for their opinions.

Some believed that smoking cannabis actually calmed them down before getting behind the wheel, making them less likely to have an accident, while others said cocaine made them feel more alert and attentive while driving. Most agreed that while drink driving was socially unacceptable, driving while on drugs did not carry the same stigma.

One young man from Brighton, who said he regularly drove after smoking cannabis, told the focus group: “We do it every day. We just roll one for the way back [from work] and share it as we go along.

“We know it is wrong, but you know it isn’t that wrong. It seems normal.”

The law on drug driving in England and Wales was tightened last month, giving police powers to test for cannabis and cocaine through a saliva swab at the side of the road. Those found guilty face up to six months in jail, a £5,000 fine and an automatic year-long driving ban.

Reacting to the findings, AA president Edmund King said: “It is worrying that drug drivers don’t think they are as dangerous as drink drivers. For some this may be because their drug use is a lifestyle choice so they don’t consider the consequences. We need to get the message out there that drug driving is as dangerous and socially irresponsible as drink driving.”

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

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1/14Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

Heroin – the chemical name for which is diacetylmorphine – was originally synthesized by British chemist C.R.Alder Wright (pictured overleaf) in 1874, by adding two acetyl groups to the molecule morphine, which is naturally found in the opium poppy.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

Bayer, the German pharmaceutical company behind Alka-Seltzer and Aspirin, bought the rights to diacetylmorphine, marketing it under the name “Heroin” in 1895 because early testers said that it made them feel “heroisch” or “heroic”.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

By 1898, it was ready for mass marketing. It was originally sold as an over-the-counter cough suppressant that didn’t have problematic side effects, like addiction (the irony) - while alternative treatments morphine and codeine did. This was before they realised that, when taken into the body, it actually converts into morphine, and is ferociously addictive. Thus defeating the object and defining what was to become a historically embarrassing moment for the company in later years.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

By 1899 Bayer was producing a ton of Heroin and exporting the drug to 23 countries, while free samples sent to doctors and studies appeared in medical journals. It was also around this time that early reports of addiction began to surface. The company wisely released Aspirin this year, which would go on to become one of the most popular and widely used pain relief drugs in the world.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

US medicines containing heroin were available over the counter from 1907, after the American Medical Association gave it its stamp of approval.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

As Heroin dependency became a torrent and overdoses began to be reported, Heroin was made illegal to obtain without a prescription from a doctor in the US in 1914. Bayer lost some of its trademark rights to Heroin and Aspirin under the Treaty Of Versailles in 1919, after the German defeat in World War I.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

In the early 1920s, a number of addicted users in New York supported themselves by collecting and selling scrap metal retrieved from industrial dumps. It was from this that the label “junkies” was born. The behavior of Heroin addicts was soon, however, to cause a concern to the public and the authorities. In 1924, it became completely illegal, and doctors were told they could no longer prescribe the drug.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

By this point, Heroin had become popular among creative industries. Pictured left is famed actress Jeanne Eagels, who died of a Heroin overdose in 1929. Its outlawed use had pushed manufacturers underground, and the purity of the product illegal traders now used varied in quality.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

In the UK, the Rolleston Committee Report in 1926, illegal Heroin dealers were prosecuted, but doctors could prescribe diacetylmorphine to users when they were withdrawing from it, if it would cause harm or severe distress to the patient to go without it. This would be the law until 1959 when the number of diacetylmorphine addicts doubled every 16 months between 1959 and 1968.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

The Brain Committee recommended that only selected, specially approved doctors at specialized centres were allowed to prescribe diacetylmorphine to users in 1964. The law was further restricted in 1968, and by the 1970s, the emphasis shifted to encouraging abstinence and the use of substitute methadone.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

In the 1980s, the UK experienced a surge in Heroin supply because of a sudden cheap influx from Pakistan (the main supplier had been – and is now – Afghanistan). Cues from popular culture – and a social downtown caused by the economic and industrial crisis in the late 1970s – created the perfect environment for the Trainspotting generation.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

In the 1990s, Heroin use was again popularized by the rise of grunge and Britpop, while the emergence of ‘the waif’ in fashion, of which Kate Moss is often cited as the originator, would give rise to the term ‘Heroin chic’. In 1994, the Swiss began to trial a diamorphine maintenance program for users who had failed multiple withdrawal programs. It aimed to maintain the health of the user, by discouraging the use of illicit street Heroin. It was deemed a success.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

Today, the largest producer of opium, needed to create Heroin is Afghanistan. This is closely followed by Mexico, who increased their rate of production sixfold between 2007 and 2011. Diacetylmorphine is a controlled, Class A substance in the UK, but continues to be used in palliative care for the treatment of acute pain, such as in severe physical trauma, post-surgical and chronic pain, as well as relieving sufferers of terminal illnesses.

Drug addiction, overdoses, and a very brief history of Heroin

Key figures continue to campaign for greater sympathies and better treatment of Heroin addicts as they attempt to rehabilitate themselves and re-enter society. Russell Brand’s Give it Up Fund, run in conjunction with Comic Relief, aims to provide financial aid to help people remain free from substance abuse by setting up support groups. "It's integral that people entering a life of abstinence after the chaos of addiction have stability, support and a role to play in the wider community," he said.

He added that in Glasgow, drug drivers had previously tried to avoid detection by drinking half a pint of lager before getting in the car, reasoning that if they were stopped by the police they would pass a breath test. The prospect of a roadside drug swab would prevent this from happening, he argued.

Philip Goose, senior community engagement officer at the road safety charity Brake, added: “The research conducted by the Government suggests that people see drug driving as more acceptable than drink driving, and that the threat of being caught by the police was not enough to put them off.

“The new drug driving law ought to make them rethink. Anyone tempted to drive on drugs should be in absolutely no doubt of the penalties they face for endangering people’s lives and that it simply isn’t worth the risk.”

The DfT declined to comment on the study, but when the new law came into force last month, Road Safety Minister Robert Goodwill said he was confident it would “save lives”, adding that driving under the influence of drugs “devastates families and ruins lives”.

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