April 20, 2017.
According to our colleagues from Le Parisien, the Ministry of the Interior has decided to launch new saliva kits in order to better control the drug consumption of motorists.
Detect if a driver has consumed drugs
In order to fight more effectively against the consumption of narcotics while driving, the Ministry of the Interior will make available to the police and the gendarmerie new saliva kits capable of detecting whether a driver has consumed cannabis, cocaine or opiates, in a few minutes. Objective: to significantly reduce the number of road accidents.
In 2015, according to the latest figures from Road Safety, 23% of deaths in road accidents involved a driver under the influence of drugs. Strengthening control had therefore become urgent. These tests should be available ” in the coming weeks, in police stations and gendarmerie brigades “, According to a senior road safety official quoted by The Parisian.
Increase drug controls
The Interior Ministry also wants to simplify the arrest procedures for motorists who have consumed drugs. Currently, a driver who tests positive must be accompanied to hospital by the police to confirm whether he has taken a narcotic. With these new kits, the police can do a second test on site to confirm the first, which will make screening much faster.
Thanks to this new device, the police and gendarmes will be able to increase the frequency of checks. Today, only 100,000 drug tests are carried out each year, compared to more than 11 million blood alcohol tests. Note in passing that any refusal to undergo the drug test is equivalent to a positive test. Furthermore, this test can be requested from motorists but also from cyclists.
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